Behind Locked Doors
by xGuiltyxPleasure
Summary: Two old friends meet again at a party. Both feel an instant connection. He falls hard for her but soon discovers she's in an abusive marriage she won't leave. Can he help her before its too late? And can he show her that true love doesn't have to hurt?
1. The Engagement Party

**A/N: Okay, I think this is my best story idea so far, and hopefully you guys will all like it too.  
Since fanfic has like a max on how much you can type in the summary section, here is the full summary for the story:**

Several years after high school, Troy Bolton runs into Sharpay Evans at a party, and the two begin to reconnect. Troy begins to fall hard for her, experiencing feelings he never had for her back in high school. Unfortunately, he eventually discovers that she is already married, a fact she attempted to keep hidden from him. Despite his efforts, he is unable to stop himself from seeing her, and soon he begins to uncover other dark secrets of Sharpay Evans' seemingly perfect life. When Troy discovers that Sharpay's husband is abusive towards her, he tries to help her and begs her to leave her husband. But no matter how much he hurts her, Sharpay continues to be lured back into her loveless marriage again and again. Can Troy help her get out before it's too late, and can he help her see that true love doesn't have to hurt?

* * *

Troy fidgeted with the collar on his white button down dress shirt, untucked over his dark wash jeans. He felt anxious as he entered the large party room belonging to his old high school friend, Chad Danforth. He was sure he wouldn't know many of the people and the idea of attempting to socialize and make small talk with strangers for hours was an unappealing sentiment, one he was sure he could face with a far braver face once he had a cold liquor drink in his hand with a few already in his stomach. It was the first time since college that he had come back to Albuquerque for any occasion other than Christmas, and then he'd only come in for a brief visit with his family for a couple of days before heading back to his home on the west coast. But Chad had been his best friend throughout the course of his life and someone he would always feel a close connection with. They didn't talk nearly as often as one might hope for two childhood best friends who were forced to go their seperate ways after high school. But then again, Troy guessed most of the time high school relationships tended to go that way. But apparently, in the case of Chad Danforth and Taylor McKessie, that had not been the case. Troy had been invited back to a massive engagement party for the two, and despite how rare his visits back home typically were, Troy was unable to refuse the offer.

Chad, of course, had permitted Troy to bring a date to the event to spare him of feeling exactly the way he did at this moment. But Troy's most recent girlfriend of the moment, Jennifer had been her name, had dumped him only days previous to the night of the party. It caused no heart break for Troy. He never entered a relationship with the intent of making it last. As far as he was concerned, he felt he was too young to be tied down to a wife and kids, and as well as he made this known to any girl that dated him, they were always convinced that they would be the one to change his mind and make him realize that he did want a serious relationship. When they found out they were wrong, they always left, and not in a pretty manner either. But Troy was unaffected by this. The only time girlfriends came in handy for him were in the bedroom, and at times like these, when he didn't want to be stag at a party with out a familiar face to turn to.

Troy had called Gabriella, who had also been invited and asked her if she wanted to go with them. Out of all his friends in highschool, Gabriella was one he still talked to fairly regularly. This was due in part to the fact that the two dated their first year of college as well, visiting regularly as their colleges were not far from one another. He'd even thought that if anybody else from East High did show up at the engagement party, showing up with Gabriella might be sort of comical as well, what with Chad and Taylor being engaged and Troy and Gabriella entering together, like in all these years nothing had changed at all. But Gabriella was unable to attend. She was actually going on vacation in Mexico with her own fiance, another one of his friends who had begun to settle down, while he made great effort to restrain from doing anything from the sort.

So while Troy was dateless, Chad had assured him that he had invited many of their old high school friends, but he wasn't sure which ones were going to be able to attend. It was a large party, with well over a hundred people at least, and Troy wasn't sure if he'd be able to scope out anybody anyways, especially when he hadn't seen them in years.

"Troy! You made it!" Chad's arm slipped around Troy's shoulders and he felt his body ease up, relieved.

"Chad!" Troy turned to briefly hug his old friend, "Congratulations man."

"Thanks. Taylor's around here somewhere." Chad looked around the room but didn't spot his fiance, "Well, wherever she is the two of you will definitely have to catch up later."

"Definitely." Troy agreed.

"Come on, walk with me. I'll introduce you to some people, and you and I can catch up. I've really missed hanging out with you." Chad said, directing Troy away from the corner he currently stood alone in, into the main stream of the party.

"Me too." Troy said genuinely, smiling at his old friend.

Chad led Troy to a group of his current guy friends, introducing him to each of them. Troy forced a smile and began the social interaction of the party he had been dreading, making small talk with the guys about their favorite sports teams and other information he forgot about as soon as it was mentioned. Chad was more enthusiastic, happy to be with his old best friend and his new ones at the same time, and did the most talking, enough for Troy to let his mind drift, scanning the room for any other friendly faces of the past.

One was caught in his peripheral vision, and he turned his head quickly to see if it was indeed the person whose mental picture his mind suddenly retrieved for him. Sharpay Evans. Now he was only staring at the back of a girl in a longsleeved black backless cocktail dress. No, it couldn't have been her, she wouldn't have come to this. He had simply been thinking back to those he knew in highschool in order to create a mental list of those he might see, and he must of thought of Sharpay at the same time his eyes glanced over a woman who happened to have blonde hair. Still, he continued to stare intensely into the back of the girl's head, willing her silently to turn around so that he could be sure that her identity was not known to him. The girl turned her head to the side, smiling at the older woman staring next to her, but flicked it back around to the front in a mere matter of seconds. Troy definitely thought she resembled Sharpay, but she had moved her face so fast he couldn't be sure it wasn't just wishfull thinking.

"Chad." Troy nudged his friend in the ribs, not realizing that he was interrupting him.

"Yeah?" Chad said, stopping in the middle of his story to answer his friend.

"You see that girl over there?" Troy guided his finger to the blonde girl.

"Oh, yeah." Chad said, nodding, "Weird that she came right? Taylor was the one who sent out all the invitations, including all our old aquaintances from high school. I never would have guessed Sharpay Evans would actually come. I mean, she hated me in high school, didn't she?"

"It is Sharpay?" Troy asked, disbelieving.

"Yeah. I said hello to her earlier, but there were a lot of people arriving and I didn't have much time to stay and talk." Chad said.

Troy stared into the back of the supposed Sharpay's head, waiting for her to turn around and confirm what Chad had said, but she didn't.

"Um, I'd kind of like to go talk to her." Troy said to Chad. Out of all the people he'd gone to high school with, seeing how Sharpay had grown up was one of the most intriguing.

"Oh, sure dude, no problem. Just make sure you come back and talk to me some more, okay?" Chad asked.

"Definitely." Troy replied. He slapped Chad's back as a means to say 'see you later' and walked over to the mysterious girl in the black dress. He approached her timidly, hoping she'd be willing to talk to him. She still didn't turn around, not realizing there was an approaching presence behind her. This only made matters more awkward for him. What if she didn't recognize him? Well that did seem pretty impossible, but still, when nervous his mind was capable of convincing him the very improbable was the inevitable.

"Excuse me." Troy placed his hand lightly on the blonde's shoulder. The girl turned around to face him, and his eyes took in her face with amazement and shock like he was smiling into the eyes of a ghost.

"Troy?" she asked, her face lighting up into a smile.

"Hi, I-" he was cut off by her arms wrapping around his neck in an unexpected hug, throwing him off guard. He brought his arms up, carefully bringing them around her too, and lightly squeezing her back.

She stepped back from him and smiled.

"You look great." Troy said to her, gesturing with his hand to her outfit. She smiled and looked down at her dress. "How are you Sharpay?" he asked.

Sharpay nodded, "Good." she stepped towards him, placing a hand on his chest, smiling, "And how is the former primo boy of East High?" she giggled. Troy smiled, comforted by the familiarity of her character. The manner in which she presented herself did not seem drasticaly altered, which made him relax. She wasn't somebody he needed to tackle, to force conversation with while he tried to work his way up to a friendly basis. He knew this girl already, even if he hadn't spoken to her in years.

"I'm really good." Troy said enthusiastically. This was an exageration to say the least. But what were you supposed to say when someone asked you how you were. You never told the truth, you lied for their own comfort.

"Good." Sharpay looked into his eyes, saying the overused word this time like she actually meant it.

"Uh, are you here with anybody?" Troy glanced around the room, not seeing any man claiming her with his eyes.

"No, I'm stag tonight." Sharpay said.

"Me too." Troy said, happy to hear he wasn't alone in that respect, "And I don't really know any of these people. Maybe we could catch up? That way I'll have someone to talk to I'd actually like to talk to, and I won't have to wander around bored all night."

Sharpay nodded in agreement, "That sounds great. I don't know any of these people either, and haven't really been having fun feigning laughs and pretending I actually care about what any of them are saying."

Several of the people who had been standing in the circle with Sharpay shot her looks. She smiled appolegetically and then gently placed her hand on Troy's elbow.

"Do you want a drink?" she asked, leading him away from the group.

"I'd love one." he said.

* * *

Hours later Troy stood with Sharpay against a wall, each of them having had perhaps one too many drinks, laughing whole heartedly. She pushed her hands against his chest gently shoving him off of her, before falling back on him, using him to steady her swaying that accompanied her tipsy state. Troy never would have guessed he would actually be having such a good time at the party, and he definitely wouldn't have thought it would be with Sharpay Evans at that.

Chad and Taylor had come over and talked to them earlier, and Troy had made plans to go out to dinner with them later that week while he was still in town. He could tell the party guests were growing fewer now though, and that the couple might appreciate him out of their house.

He looked at Sharpay, who had been leaning against him, and touching him all night.

"Listen, do you want to get out of here?" he asked, hoping he wasn't being to brazen.

"As in together?" she asked, taking a step back.

"Uh, I mean if you want to, I guess we could." Troy shrugged, swallowing hard, feeling nerves stir in him again despite the alcohol.

"Oh, um, I... I can't do that... tonight." Sharpay said, looking at the floor.

"Oh." Troy looked away, dissapointed an embarassed, feeling his face burn. He felt her cool hand on his cheek. He turned to look back at her.

"But, I'm going to have a few free nights later this week." she offered, "Maybe you could take me out to dinner or something?" she smiled.

Troy grinned at her, "Yeah, I'm going to be in town all week! Should we exchange numbers?"

Sharpay nodded. Troy handed her his phone and she punched her number in.

"My phone's in my purse in the spare room, so I'll just let you call me okay?" Sharpay asked, handing him back the blackberry.

Troy nodded, "I know it's like, not cool for a guy to do this, or something, but since I'm only in town for a week, could I call you tommorow?"

"No!" Sharpay said, a bit too strongly. Troy took a step back, suprised.

"Sorry." she said, softer. "Um, I just have plans tommorow, but you can call me tommorow after six, okay? Just, please don't call me before then."

Troy gave her a wierd look, but she returned one that said she didn't feel like explaining, and he just shrugged it off, "Sure, I'll call you then. I mean you do want me to call right?"

"Definitely!" Sharpay ensured him, reaching out to touch his arm, "Call me immediately after six." she added, smiling at him.

"Okay. I will." Troy said, "I guess I'll see you later, Sharpay Evans."

"Tomorrow, Troy Bolton." she smiled, turning away and walking off, a bit abruptly, even if they had just said her goodbyes.

Troy shook his head. Sharpay Evans. Wierd.

* * *

**A/N: I would appreciate any reviews or feedback so much! I was going to hold off on writing this one, but in my opinion, it's one of my best story ideas, and I just decided I couldn't wait to start writing it. Oh, and this is going to get pretty dark just so you know. **

**xoxoxoxoxo.**


	2. A First Date With an Old Aquaintance

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated anything all week! If you are upset, please promptly direct your complaints to Charter, who randomly decided to upgrade their service, leaving my area without internet for a week. I was pissed. As it turns out, I'm pretty dependent on my computer.**

* * *

Troy had waited until six fifteen, but now he could no longer wait anymore. She had said call her "immediately after six." If he did want to make plans with her tonight, he decided he better swallow his macho pride and call her soon. It was strange experiencing such feelings of eagerness and apprehension towards a potential date with Sharpay Evans. He'd known the girl throughout school, and it definitely felt surreal to be sitting on his old bed in his parents' house, holding the phone while working up the courage to call her.

He finally pressed send on the new addition to his contacts, listening to the dial with growing anticipation.

"Hello?" a shaky voice picked up the phone.

"Sharpay?" Troy replied, "It's Troy. Uh, Bolton." He winced. Of course she knew which Troy he was, how many Troys could she possibly know?

"Troy!" her voice immediately rose in cheer, to his relief, "Thank God you called, I really need to get out tonight."

"Oh, good." Troy mustered. She was making this surprisingly easy for him, "I was thinking I could take you out for dinner or something, and then we could play it by ear."

"Sure." Sharpay agreed, "Where should we meet?"

"I thought I'd pick you up?" Troy replied.

"No!" Sharpay said vehemently, shocking Troy.

"I'm not that bad of a driver." He joked lamely, trying to lighten the mood for his own benefit.

"Sorry." She quickly retaliated, "I, um, I don't really live in the nicest place right now… I'd be embarrassed."

"Oh!" Troy said, "Look, I understand completely. I wouldn't care at all about where you live, but if you really would feel more comfortable driving yourself, that's fine."

"Thanks." She said softly.

Troy gave her the name of the restaurant and they planned to meet there at seven thirty. Troy hung up, shaking his head. She was different than he remembered her, that was for sure. The Sharpay he'd gone to high school with would never have been self conscious about something like the place where she lived. In high school she had been utterly confident that she was perhaps the most talented artist in all of New Mexico, if not the United States, and that as far as looks went, she was God's gift to men. Anything else would have been mere trivia, with which she wouldn't have wasted her time worrying over. But evidently, that was no longer the case. He didn't know if that was to be taken as good or bad, or either for that matter.

But the strangest thing about Sharpay had to do with Troy himself. It was the fact that he hadn't been able to go to sleep last night, unable to stop thinking about her and the way she had looked and laughed and touched him at the party. He'd thought about her all day as well, bugging his parents, who wanted to spend time with him before he left, by being extremely distant while talking, and often drifting into daydreams. These daydreams had all been centered on her, trying to imagine scenarios to explain who she was now, attempting to decipher her mysteriousness that had intrigued him so much. He thought constantly throughout the day about what had lay underneath her cocktail dress and had enjoyed mentally undressing her countless times, particularly while in the shower. And he'd tried to envision what their date would be like tonight, something that was nearly impossible for him. If she didn't drink nearly as much as they both had last night, he didn't know if she would still be as easy going and laugh as much, or if she would be very serious; if she would still be identical to the girl he'd grown up with, or if she would now be a complete stranger.

Troy left his parents' house at seven, not wanting to risk being late.

"I'm leaving!" Troy shouted as he was heading for the door on his way out. Both of his parents rushed eagerly into the room, not willing to pass up a chance to interrogate their only son on one of the seldom times he was actually at home.

"Wait where are you going?" his mother asked, stepping towards him challengingly, "I was going to cook all your favorites tonight!"

"Sorry Mom, I've got a date." Troy said, holding up his hands in defense.

"Will you back here afterwards or does this mean you'll go straight back to your hotel tonight?" she was clearly disappointed in missing out on an ounce of quality time with her son.

"Back to the hotel room tonight." Troy said.

"Who is this young lady whose so important your neglecting the woman who gave you the gift of life?" she asked.

Troy looked at his dad to answer the question even though he had not been the one to ask it, "I'm going out with Sharpay Evans."

"Sharpay Evans?!" Jack Bolton exclaimed. He chuckled a little, insignificant memories suddenly being called to his attention, withdrawn from the depths of his mind. "East High's former reigning drama queen?"

"That's the one." Troy said, "We met up at the party last night, and actually had an amazing time together."

"Does she still look, you know, like she did back then?" Jack asked his son, speaking as if they were in on a private discussion, unreadable to his wife.

"Jack!" she slapped him lightly on the chest, "You're talking about a little girl!"

"She's not a little girl anymore, she's Troy's age!" he protested.

"Yeah, she's pretty damn good looking." Troy agreed.

"Troy! Don't say damn." His mother instructed.

Troy rolled his eyes, smiling at her, "Sorry Mom." He mumbled. He said his goodbyes to his parents, having to leave most of their questions unanswered in order to ensure he made it to the restaurant before Sharpay.

Troy got to the restaurant, and waited patiently on the inside for Sharpay to arrive. She walked in approximately fifteen minutes later, looking so stunning Troy's jaw hung open slightly. She was wearing a short sleeved white blouse with a high-waisted black pencil skirt, and tall black stilettos. Troy had not been a fan of the look until he saw it on her, but once he did, he loved it. It was especially alluring to Troy, because her outfit conveyed that of a woman and not of a girl, firmly drawing the line of distinction between the person Troy had known so well in the past, and the one he had only just met.

"You look amazing." Troy said. He stepped in towards her and kissed her cheek. Her skin was soft, and he let his lips linger there for just a moment longer than what might have been considered appropriate for a greeting.

When he withdrew his head, he saw that she had closed her eyes during their brief contact, and she now opened them, locking them with his own. Her eyes looked bloodshot.

"You look really tired." Troy commented. He instantly regretted saying it, wondering if it would register as an insult with her. "But beautiful!" he added, hoping to cancel out any bad connotations with his observation, "Just sleepy is all."

"I am." Sharpay said.

"Not enough sleep after the party last night, huh? I was really tired too, but I took a nap this afternoon."

"Yeah, I got home late." Sharpay said, a simple reply to a simple question.

Troy gave his name to the concierge, and they were taken back to their reserved table.

"A waiter will be with you shortly." The concierge said before leaving.

"Which car in the parking lot was yours?" Sharpay asked as soon as they were alone.

"Why?" Troy asked. It was an odd question to start a first date with, he thought.

"There were a lot of really nice cars outside this place." She said, "I want to know which one you could drive me around in."

"Porsche." Troy said, "But I'm sure none of those cars compare to the infamous Sharpay Evans pink convertible. Do you still drive that around?"

"No." Sharpay said. "I'm not seventeen anymore. I sold it." She shrugged.

"Someone actually wanted to buy a pink car with gaint SE initials on it?" Troy asked, chuckling.

"Oh. No we had it painted." Sharpay explained.

"We?" he asked.

"My parents. And me." Sharpay said.

"Ah." Troy nodded, "So what do you do now? I can't believe we never covered any of the basics last night."

"We probably did and just can't remember. I drank a little too much." Sharpay replied.

"Oh. Uh, so what do you do for a living now?" he repeated the question she had neglected to answer the first time.

"For a living? Like my job?" she asked him. He nodded, uncontrolably arching an eyebrow at her. He thought that these were standard questions for a first date or for catching up on an old companion. In his case, it was both, and he'd deemed them appropriate to stimulate conversation. But the way Sharpay responded to each question made it seem like it was an interigation segment, and that anything she said he might use to incriminate her with later. It was making both of them uncomfortable, and he hoped it was just a temporary attitude that came as part of her nature when in an unfamilar situation.

"I... uh, I'm a drama teacher." Sharpay said.

"Oh, very cool. Where?"

"Where what?" Sharpay asked, before realization dawned on her face, "Oh! You mean where do I teach? Where I work. Oh, um, East High?"

"Really?" Troy asked. He tried to speak gently to her, to calm what he supposed was nerves. "That's so cool. Wait..." Troy looked off for a second, in thought. "Do you see my dad?" he asked.

"Your dad?" Sharpay looked in shock, and a wave of understanding hit her hard, "Oh, right. He works there."

"Yeah." Troy said, "I told him I was going on a date with you, and he was asking a lot of questions about you..." Troy trailed off. Sharpay was staring down at the table, a glassy look in her eyes.

"I'm currently unemployed. I got fired from my last job. I didn't want to admit that, I thought it'd make me look like a loser." Sharpay looked up at Troy, "I'm sorry."

Troy reached out and placed a hand on hers, "Hey." he said gently. She looked on the verge of tears, a reaction Troy didn't understand. He guessed that was why she was acting so uptight towards his simple questions, but he didn't understand why they bothered her so much. Again, Troy thought of highschool Sharpay, who definitely might have lied about something like that, but only if there was something benneficial for her to gain, not merely due to self consciousness.

"It's okay." Troy said softly, "You don't have to lie about anything." he added softly, "And there's no need to want to impress me. I'm just Troy the basketball boy, remember? A lowly neanderthall, too low to even bask in the light of the dignified and talented, like you." he joked. She giggled a little and looked up to meet his eye.

"Don't take pity on me too soon Bolton, okay? I'm still kind of a bitch." she said, smiling.

"Good to hear." Troy said, laughing.

Fortunately for Troy, from that point as the night progressed her original self awareness melted away, emerging from it, a girl both confident and clever, almost an alter ego to the person he'd talked to for the first few minutes. They laughed and carried out consistent conversation throughout the course of dinner, continuing to talk long after the waiter had cleared their plates away and handed Troy the bill. They eventually became aware of frequent glances coming from the waiters, pointed ones, meant to inform them that they had long overstayed their welcome. Still, it was with great reluctance that Troy stood up from the resturant table, ending his dinner conversation with Sharpay.

"Do you need to go home now, or can we hang out a little more?" Troy asked her, both of them stepping out into the cold night air, a suprise compared to the much warmer evening they'd experienced when they entered the resturant.

"How about I go home with you?" Sharpay asked, eyeing Troy mischeviously, as she did a little hop spin dance against the exterior of the brick wall.

Troy raised his eyebrows, "Really?" he asked.

"Well, normally I wouldn't, but you're only in town for a week. We have to progress a lot sooner." Sharpay reasoned.

"I can't argue with your logic." Troy said, "I'll lead the way." He pressed the automatic unlock button on his car remote, a loud beeping noise breaking through the night air.

"I'll see you there." Sharpay said. She turned and walked away from him, and he saw her get into a black SUV. He turned the keys in his own ignition, his heart speeding up in perfect time with the starting engine of the car.

**A/N: Okay there's chapter two. I just want to explain a few things:**

**This is going to be a dark story, as afore mentioned. However, Troy is currently in a state of blissfull ignorance in regards to Sharpay's odd behavior. I decided it made sense to let the story's mood be in synch with Troy. Also, I have greatly planned out the character's conversation, so that all of it will make sense throughout the story, and just wanted to let you guys know that nothing said by Troy or Sharpay was dialogue created without great thought process before hand. If anything seemed odd or unnatural, then it probably was intended to be. **

**Please review! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter, they were all so very very sweet. :) xoxo.**


	3. In a Hotel Room

**Hey! Thank you so much to everyone who has updated! Your reviews have all been really sweet. And often long, I might add, which I like because it gives me more to read. :) But I definitely need more. I haven't gotten very many on here so if you have alerted or favorited this and haven't reviewed, please please take the time to do so. It motivates me, I like feedback, and come on the whole point of posting these on here is so that I get a little bit of attention, right? I mean otherwise I could just keep these stories bottled up in my head. :p **

**The part in this chapter where Sharpay says "You took me back to a hotel? Kinky.", I must acredit to xHeSaidSheSaidx. At one point in her review she wrote: "Can't wait to see what's gonna happen later tonight with Troypay haha. So he's taking her back to the hotel room or his parents house? If it's parents house, then I'm looking forward to her meeting his parents again, and if it's hotel room... whoa kinky ;)" I decided Sharpay would say the same thing. Okay, here goes:**

* * *

Troy put his right blinker on to pull into the hotel parking lot. Listening to the 'tick tock' sound the turn signal made, he glanced back in his rearview mirror to make sure she was still behind him. Only two cars back he could see the black SUV, though she herself was not visible at night through the tinted windows. He pulled into the parking lot, parking his car as close to the entrance as possible in a spot that still had an available space. She pulled in next to him.

Troy stepped out of the car and walked around behind it to meet her.

"You took me back to a hotel?" Sharpay raised an eyebrow at him, "Kinky." she said.

Troy scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. This was unusual, even for him, who basically viewed relationships as a heavy price you payed for sex, and adored one night stands. She'd been a little too easy, and normally that would have been a huge turn off for Troy. But her mysteriousness played to her advantage in this case, and made her even still seem like she was playing hard to get, even if she was following him back to his hotel room. She hadn't given herself emotionally to Troy at all, and that was different for him. Usually girls wanted to talk about feelings 24/7 and you had to work for the sex. Sharpay was handing him the sex, but he was going to have to work to get to know her. It was, again, unusual, and somehow made her more alluring to him.

"Yeah, well, you know, I'm staying in a hotel while I'm in Albuquerque. So, I didn't really have a choice unless you wanted to go back to my parents house. But they'd probably force feed you milk and cookies and make you talk to them for an hour and a half, and then I don't know how loud you'd be-" Troy stopped talking abruptly, realizing what he'd just said.

Sharpay's eyes widened as well, and then she threw her head back and laughed, causing Troy's tension to ease.

"That was a little crude." he said, "I'm sorry."

"I'll let you be the judge of how loud I am." She stepped in closer to Troy, and his heart gave one hard leap against his chest. "See, I can be blunt too." she said. She turned and looked at her reflection in her car's windows.

"Well," she said, turning back to face him, "Are you going to ask me inside your hotel room, or are you going to leave me standing out here in the cold all night?"

"Oh, I am definitely taking you inside." Troy said. He laced his hand in hers, and led her with him towards the front doors.

Troy slipped an arm around her waist, leading her through the swank lobby to the front desk.

"Could you send a bottle of champagne up to room 219?" he asked the man. He pulled Sharpay in tightly towards his side, giving her waist a squeeze.

"Certainly sir. Someone will be up shortly." The man replied. He shifted his eyes over to Sharpay, giving her a once over. He nodded, as if finding her acceptable. Her outfit portrayed class, not prostitution, so she couldn't be mistaken for someone of that trade.

"Thank you." Troy turned and walked with Sharpay towards the elevator. He pressed the button, and as the white light on it lit up, he glanced sideways at Sharpay. She looked good, possibly even better than she had in high school, or at least to his recollection of her in high school. But then again, he hadn't really been a fan of the sequin and rhinestone getups she had always been clad in. He liked girls with an air of sophistication, something she had now. Even more so, he had discovered tonight that he liked girls with an air of mystery as well, something Sharpay, apparently, had in abundance.

They took the elevator ride up in silence, him feeling her glance over at him every few seconds, but every time he looked back at her she quickly flicked her head to face fowards, avoiding his eye contact. He took her hand again when they walked down the red carpeted hall towards his room. He opened the door, cool air rushing in, in comparison to the toasty hallway.

They both stepped in, looking around the room, and shared an awkward glance.

"So." Troy said. He stepped further in the room, and Sharpay followed.

"Don't be nervous Troy." she said softly. He whipped his head around to look at her, his heart jumping again.

"I'm not nervous!" He shot back. How dare she? She was trying to comfort him? He was not nervous about sex. Sex was his favorite past time and the thing that put him most at ease. He was uncomfortable because he was suddenly in a hotel room with a girl that he had only reaquainted himself with in less than 48 hours, whom up untill that point, he had not spoken with in years. And, well, okay, admitidly he was a little nervous about sex with her, but not because he was inexperienced or because it was a common thing that caused him anxiety, but because she, quite frankly, had grown up to be wierd as hell, albeit her sex appeal remained just as intense.

She stepped towards him slowly, and placed one hand on his chest, looking up into his eyes. Troy was mesmerized, suddenly feeling like he'd been put under some sort of trance by this _goddess _who was staring up at him now. He couldn't pull his eyes away from her own sparkling pair, and found himself unable to move on her. He finally, slowly, lifted his hand up to rest on her hip, laying it there, but remaining unmoving otherwise. He wanted so badly to kiss her, but he didn't want to have to break this eerie eye contact they currently shared.

"You're beautiful." he whispered hoarsely, hoping that would explain to her why he was unable to do anything else so far.

Sharpay leaned fowards slowly, and placed one kiss on his mouth. She pulled back enough to look into his eyes again, and he licked his lips wantingly. They needed more bonding time with her own. She leaned in again, and this time Troy finally took control, capturing her lips first. He had his free hand in her hair in an instant, roaming around the long soft tresses, gently tangling them in his fingers. He moved his other hand down from her hip to rest on her butt instead. Well, rest wasn't the appropriate word. Grab was probably a more accurate account, but Sharpay didn't seem to mind at all. She placed both her hands on his chest, rubbing them up and down softly.

"Room service." a voice suddenly said from out in the hall, accompanied by a loud knock on the door. Sharpay jumped, and Troy pulled away from her warm presence, regretting having requested the champagne.

"Damn." he muttered. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and went to answer the door. The bellhop wheeled in a table with champagne glasses and the unopened bottle.

"Here you are sir." he said to Troy. "Miss." he acknowledged Sharpay. He proceeded to very obviously run his eyes up and down the length of her body. "Nice." he said to Troy, smiling and winking as if the two of them shared a common experience of women like her. Troy did his best not to roll his eyes as he handed the guy his tip and closed the door.

"I think that kid still had acne." he said to Sharpay who still stood in the same spot, her hands clasped behind her back. Sharpay giggled and fell back onto the bed. She crossed one leg over the other, placing her hands far behind her, leaning back while holding herself up with her arms. She smiled expectantly up at Troy.

"Where were we?" he said, smiling back at her. He sat down beside her on the bed and placed one hand high on her thigh. He rubbed it softly, and leaned in to kiss her again. After only a few moments, Sharpay began to unbutton her own shirt, down to the point just above her navel where the high waisted skirt began. Troy took the time to quickly remove his own shirt, before directing his attention back at her. He spread her shirt open wider, revealing her bra, and he pulled the blouse out of the skirt, removing it completely from her and discarding it on the floor. Troy kissed down her neck, and then moved his lips to kiss her collar bone, and then her shoulder, while he reached back to unhook her bra. While kissing her shoulder, his eye caught sight of a large dark bruise just south of it, and he pulled his lips back in shock.

"How did you do this?" Troy asked. He ran his finger gently over the bruise, shifting to get a better look at it. It was bigger than his fist an truly black. Sharpay winced and withdrew a sharp intake of breath upon his finger's contact with the wound.

"Sorry." he said softly, removing his hand from her back.

"I was trying to open the door of the bookshelf in the living room. It's an antique, so the doors get stuck a lot. I keep these vases on top of it and when I finally flung the door open, a heavy one fell down and hit my shoulder." she explained, "It wasn't very smart I guess."

"Oh." Troy said, still staring at the bruise in wonder. He'd never seen one of that kind before.

Sharpay leaned her head in to Troy's chest, and he could hear her breathing clearly, going in and out shakily. She pressed her forehead against his chest, keeping it there for some time. Troy stroked her hair softly, sensing that she needed a minute. Troy never minded taking things slow. He kissed the top of her head.

"Troy?" she asked, her voice muffled by his chest.

"Hm?" he replied.

She looked up at him, their eyes meeting again. "Will you spend the day with me tomorrow?" she asked.

Troy nodded, "Sure." he said, "I'd like that." he smiled softly at her.

"Okay." she said, "Go ahead."

Go ahead? Troy shrugged her odd phrasing off, and did anyways, reaching down and completing his original goal of removing her bra. Returning his gaze to the front of her, he was amazed at how much of an angel she suddenly resembled. The bruise was her only blemish. All other flaws she obtained seemed to fade away, only merging with her beauty to create perfection. Her soft waves transcended beautifully down her now bare upper half, stopping at mid breast. Her skin glowed, and Troy had an overwhelming need overcome him of coming in contact with every inch of it. He placed his hands back on her body, and let them explore her, trying his best to make sure not a single inch of that golden skin was left untouched.

She layed back gently against the bed, gazing up at him and smiling, laying still and waiting for him to make the next step.

"Comfortable, beautiful?" he asked her. She nodded softly.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he lowered his voice due to whatever force that compelled him to do so, and stared at her longingly, trying to keep the hunger out of his gaze until he recieved her honest answer. She had told him to "go ahead." He wasn't sure why exactly she had phrased things like that, and hoped it wasn't because she didn't truly want this.

"Yes." she murmured.

"Okay." Troy lowered himself and kissed down her stomach, slowly sliding the skirt past her waist, down to her thighs. He pulled it the rest of the way down her legs, and kissed the area where her stomach faded into her bikini line. Sharpay let out soft moans while he did so, and softly tousseled his hair. He slid her underwear off and slowly kissed down to between her legs. He brought his hands to her inner thighs, softly rubbing them there, and then gently spreading her legs enough to leave enough room for his head. He kissed her entrance a few times, before slowly pushing his tongue up inside of her, moving it around the hot center.

"Troy!" she cried. He smiled hearing her say his name in that way for the first time, having known her since grade school. He softly flicked it in and out of her, meaning to do no more than gently tease her and turn her on. He wouldn't let her get anywhere near a release, not yet. He pulled his head out from between her legs, and stared back at her face once more. She smiled and sat up, reaching her hands to the buttons on his jeans. Bringing herself up on her knees, she proceeded to undo them and pull his pants down to reveal navy boxers. She kissed above their elastic waist band, and realizing her intentions, Troy stopped her. He'd had enough foreplay. Normally he could stand for a lot more of it, but she looked to achingly beautiful for him to withstand prolonging his intentions any longer. There would be other times, hopefully for them to do more exploring into the depths of many different forms of pleasure, but for now he only cared about himself entering her. Becoming one with the angel that was in his arms.

He spread her back gently across the bedspread again, pushing his boxers off of him himself. He lowered himself onto her, propping himself up temporarily on his elbows, not wanting to crush her under his weight. He kissed her lips once softly and then gently guided himself into her entrance slowly. She gasped, tilting her head back, her mouth forming an 0. Making sure she was okay and that he had the right away to continue he slowly began to move inside of her, pushing himself further up into the depths within her, and then pulling out slightly, before pushing deeper again. The two moved together, their speed increasing as they built closer and closer to their climaxes. When both had released, they lay together, their chests heaving. He pulled her into his arms and held her close to his chest, pulling the blankets up around them. Sharpay said nothing to him, only further burried her head into him, snuggling close, until he heard her labored breathing grow slower and deeper, as she drifted to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to make the sex scene more sweet and gentle as opposed to like, raging and sexual or something. lol. Hopefully I succeeded and you guys liked it. As always, please please please review. xoxoxoxoxoxo. ;)**


	4. The Day After

**A/N: So, yesterday I was filtering through the newest Troypay stories to see if anything looked good, and someone has just published the first chapter of a new story, of course, entitled Guardian Angel. Damn. I do not want to have two Troypay stories, not to mention ones being updated at the same time, to share the same name, so I guess I'm going to have to change the title of my story. Again, damn. So, I thought I should forewarn everyone first in the next chapter I posted before changing it. So here is your warning. I don't know what the new title is going to be yet, I'll have to think it over.**

* * *

Troy woke up and rolled over to hoping for the opputunity to gaze at the blonde beauty he'd held in his arms last night for a few minutes before she awoke. He was dissapointed when he rolled over, however to find the sheets empty. He stood up, suprised to find himself slightly sore from the activities that had taken place several hours ago. This was unusual. But Sharpay was unusual, and as of last night, she was also possibly Troy's best experience in bed.

He thought that she might have been in the bathroom, but he saw once stepping out of bed that the door was open and the lights shut off. Troy turned in a slow circle looking about the room, as if it was possible she was hiding in a corner or under the bed. But he saw nothing. He felt his heart sink, thinking that she must have left. He didn't see her purse, the only item that she had brought in, which would serve as evidence on wether or not she still remained in the hotel.

Troy walked into the bathroom, flicking on the lights. There was evidence of her having been in there already. Half of the little complimentary face wash bottle supplied daily by the hotel was used, and there were small traces of eyeliner shavings and white powder on the counter. He ran some water over a soft white washcloth, using the rest of the face wash, and used it to wipe the counter clean.

"So much for spending the day together." he mumbled, suprising himself in the heavy bitterness he heard in his own words. The feelings he found himself almost regretably experiencing reminded him of the way it used to feel when he developed a large crush on a girl back in school. He wasn't thrilled with this realization, knowing he would be back on the West Coast at the end of the week. Another reason he wished to keep his romantic emotions out of sight was because of the way all his relationships ended: an extremely angry and heartbroken girl and a very unappolegetic Troy shrugging it off as she walked out the door. It was one thing to fall in and out of relationships like that with girls you spent a months time with, but Troy had grown up with Sharpay. She played small roles in so many of his childhood memories and he would hate to have hindsight ruin these memories for both of them.

"Troy?" The door of the room opened and a hoarse voice called out his name. His heart thrust itself powerfully against his chest in one sudden movement. Giddy would be the most accurate word to describe Troy Bolton's reaction upon recognition of the voice. His inhibitions he had just been battling were easily melted away as his lips tingled at the idea of pressing them against her own.

"I thought you'd left." Troy said, exiting the bathroom. She was indeed already fully made up, and appeared freshly showered as well underneath last night's clothes.

"I just had to make a phone call." Sharpay said, holding up her phone in the same hand that clutched her bag. "Sorry I was gone so long."

"Oh, I didn't know you were. I just got up." Troy said.

Sharpay nodded.

"Are you okay?" he asked, for the first time noticing she hadn't smiled once at him. Her cheeks looked flushed and her eyes were just as bloodshot as they had been the night before. Of course, he could have been partially responsible for this as he had interfered with her sleeping schedule last night.

She nodded, biting her lip. "Yes, I am. But I actually have to go home now. Something's come up."

"Why?" Troy asked, almost whining, "I thought we were going to hang out today. You could help me get reaquainted with Albuquerque." He smiled at her hopefully.

Sharpay shook her head, "I'm really sorry, but I need to go now."

"Are you su-"

"Yes!" Sharpay snapped, cutting Troy off. He looked up in suprise.

"Oh. Okay then." Troy tried to look nonchalantly around the room, avoiding her eye contact and pretending she hadn't just hurt his feelings. He didn't like to admit it, but he was a pretty sensitive guy.

"I'm sorry." Sharpay said, much softer. Her eyes showed genuine remorse. "Look, uh, I'd really like to talk to you later." she added.

Troy looked up hopefully, "Sure! You can call me." he said. He reached out to grab her phone, "Here I'll put my number in."

"No." Sharpay drew her hand back. Troy took a step back and gave her an odd look. What he'd originally branded sexy and mysterious was now being held under the light of social misconduct.

"I mean, call me please." she said, "I'm so forgetfull, and I really want to talk to you again. You can call me anytime after eight tonight."

Troy nodded, wondering now if he even wanted to call. He felt Sharpay place a hand on his wrist. His heart lept again. In spite of his better judgement he knew he would be calling her by eight fifteen that night.

"I'm really sorry." she said again, "Something happened out of the blue." She looked up at him, "Would you kiss me once before I leave?" she asked him, her face solemn and saddened.

Again Troy was a little off-put by her odd behavior. But he wanted very much to kiss her again, and he did, placing one hand on her cheek and tenderly caressing it. She closed her eyes upon his touch and he leaned in to softly capture her lips. She kissed him slowly, then wrapped her arms tight around his neck. She let her face slide down until her forehead was pressed against his lips and she stood there for a second, before she abruptly pushed him off of her.

"Bye!" she said, and she ran out the door leaving behind a very bewildered Troy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Troy called at eight o' seven. She didn't answer.

He called again at eight fifteen and again got her voicemail.

At eight thirty he tried again. No answer.

At eight forty two, his call was directed directly to voicemail without ringing. This happened again the next two times he called her. Then he gave up. It seemed Sharpay Evans really hadn't wanted anything beyond sex with him. The roles had been severely reversed for Troy, and he didn't like the feeling one bit.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was two in the morning when he recieved a call. The id read her name.

"Hello?" he asked, both tired and extremely annoyed.

"Troy?" her voice trembeled when she spoke.

"Yeah?" Troy asked, "Thanks for taking my calls." he said sarcastically.

"I'm so sorry." she said. "I redialed your number. I turned my phone off for a while."

"I noticed." Troy said, "Why? To avoid me?"

"No. The battery died."

"You just said you turned it off." Troy said, rolling over on his side to get more comfortable.

"I did. I turned it off right before the battery died." she replied.

"Well where were you?" Troy asked.

"I've been at home." she said.

"Why didn't you plug your phone in?"

"What?" her voice was worried, like a person's voice often was when caught in a lie.

"You could have plugged your phone in if you were at home." he repeated, "Look Sharpay, I don't know if this is some kind of game you play, but if you just wanted to sleep with me you should have just said so. Don't make plans with me and break them, then ignore me, and call me again at fucking two in the morning."

"Troy, I just now got a free moment to call you. I was having a family emergency I really can't talk about right now." Sharpay said, "But I needed to appologize to you right away, or I wouldn't be able to get to sleep."

"Oh... Okay I guess." Troy said.

"So, would you meet me for coffee tomorrow morning?" she asked tentatively.

"Okay." Troy said.

"Starbucks on Central Avenue?" she asked.

Troy yawned, "Sounds good with me."

"Okay." she said, sounding relieved.

"Goodnight-" Troy started.

"Troy!" Sharpay interrupted.

"What is it?"

"Could you stay on the line with me for a while, until I fall asleep?" she asked shyly. "I really need someone to talk to right now."

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, his eyes closed.

"Nothing, I'm just, all alone in this big house, and I have nightmares a lot."

"Big house?" Troy asked, "I thought you were embarassed about where you lived."

"Troy!" Sharpay's voice sounded exasperated. Every little thing she said, he was there to point out a previous contradiction she'd made to it. "I just can't handle anymore explanations right now. The house is big but old, and on the wrong side of town. Does that work for you?"

"Work for me?" Troy asked. He sighed loudly, "Okay. What do you want to talk about beautiful?"

"Do you really think I'm beautiful?" she asked.

"Of course." Troy replied. He burried his head in his soft, deep pillow.

"Talk to me about that." Sharpay murmured.

"Your beauty?" Troy asked.

"Anything you like about me." Sharpay replied.

Troy smiled into the soft hotel pillowcase. "I like everything about you." he said. It was late, and he was sleepy and not thinking with discretion. This turned him into a rare romantic.

Sharpay breathed back into the phone heavily. Troy began to whisper into the phone, "Your eyes. Your smile. Your laugh. Your hands..." He continued with his list, listening to her breathing growing slower and deeper.

"Sharpay?" he finally asked. He got no reply. He hung up the phone and rolled back over for some much needed sleep.

* * *

**A/N: So this is sort of a transition chapter, but they're needed every once in a while in a story. Anyways, please review! xoxo.**


	5. Dark Glasses

Troy sat nervously at Starbucks, holding his latte in his hands, enjoying the heat through the paper cup. He had texted Sharpay that morning and asked if 9:30 was a good time to meet. She had texted back that it was. It was 9:45, and he was starting to grow anxious that she wouldn't show up. He had arrived around 9:20, as usual wanting to avoid being late at all costs. He had already scoffed down a cinnamon scone, and his coffee had gone from piping hot to a little more than warm.

Finally, he saw her walking through the glass door, wearing a tight long sleeved black blouse over a pink camisoule and a pair of grey sweatpants tucked into Uggs. Troy smiled, glad to see her dressed comfortable, a rare sight to see back in high school. She waved at him, not removing her oversized sunglasses and placed her order at the counter. He relaxed back on the couch, happy to see she hadn't bailed on him. Once she had her frap in her hand she walked over to him and sat down, smiling close-lipped at him.

"Hey." Troy said shyly, a hesitant grin playing on his lips.

"Hey." she said softly. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Oh hey, no, it's cool." Troy said. This was a lie. Troy had spent all day agonizing over what he had done wrong and even now he had no idea where he really stood with her.

"I know I've been really unreadable, and I'm sorry, I just..." she faded off, staring ahead at the wall. "Why don't we just try to hang out and enjoy today?" she said brightly, completely neglecting to finish her original statement.

"Okay." Troy said, choosing to agree even though curiosity was killing him. "Why don't you take your glasses off? We're inside, I don't think the paparazzi will spot you." he said, chuckling.

Sharpay shook her head, involuntarily bringing one of her hands up to the large black sunglasses. "I hurt myself yesterday." she said.

Troy felt his heart leap, the feeling he got when something was amiss or generally wrong.

"Hurt yourself?" Troy asked.

Sharpay nodded, and her face grew visibly flushed with embarassment, "It was really dumb. I can be such an idiot, and I'm really clumsy." she laughed lightly, "Trust me, you'll see."

The way she said, "you'll see." made Troy's heart thump with excitement, reveling in the impression she gave that they would be spending more time together in the future, and he didn't want to ruin the moment by pushing too much further, but still, he was curious.

"What did you do?" he asked.

Sharpay hesitated but answered him, "I swung my car door opened and swung it into my right eye."

"Can I see it?" Troy asked tentatively.

Sharpay glanced around her, and then back at Troy. "It looks really bad. I tried to cover it up with makeup, but I don't know how good of a job I did." she stood up from her seat across from him and joined him on the red loveseat. She lifted the sunglasses up to reveal her eye. She had indeed attempted to disguise the eye with a great deal of ivory foundation, but underneath it large traces of a purple bruise were visible over the still slightly swollen eye.

"You got a black eye from a car door?" Troy asked. He lightly fingered the bruise, but Sharpay winced from the pain, causing him to draw back his fingers.

"Sorry." he muttered.

"Yeah, it could only happen to me." she lowered her sunglasses again, "I have the worst luck." she shrugged, "Anyways, I hope you won't be to embarassed to be seen with me today because of it."

"Of course not." Troy said. He felt a sudden impulse to kiss her lips and after contemplating it for a few brief seconds, he did so. He merely pecked them, lingering only for a moment solely due to the pure softness of her lips that had beckoned him in the first place. He retreated and looked at her. He couldn't read any reaction because of the huge dark glasses.

"You should take those off so I'll know what you're thinking." Troy tried to pull the glasses away.

Sharpay grabbed on to them and fought him over them, "No, I really would rather have them on. I'll be too self concious otherwise." she argued. Troy let go reluctantly. "Besides, maybe I don't want you to know what I'm thinking." she added, smirking mischeviously at him.

Troy sighed, "What are we doing today?" he asked.

"I don't know." Sharpay sipped some of the frozen coffee up through her straw.

"Well I was thinking we could go for a walk around the park together, and then maybe go out for lunch or something." Troy shrugged, "You wanna go to the BioPark? I haven't really been around Albuquerque in so long, I kind of want to do something just a little tourist-y."

Sharpay smiled, "Sure."

* * *

Troy laced his fingers with her own as they strolled around the Botanic Garden. Sharpay turned to smile up at him, and he felt a longing to gaze at her chocolate eyes, one black or not, currently blocked by the sunglasses. At least the huge glasses made sense outside in the bright late spring sun as opposed to indoors in a coffee shop. He still wished she would allow him to get rid of the ridiculous obstacle blocking her gorgeous eyes.

"Your eyes are beautiful, regardless of bruises." he said to her. Sharpay sighed loudly, and he knew she wasn't in the mood to begin this debate with him. But he still persisted, "Please just take the glasses off so I can look at you when we talk."

He reached up for them to grab them off of her face. She reached her own hands up to block his and tried to hold the glasses on. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her hand away. She gasped loudly and as he brought his other hand near to her face to grab the sunglasses, she flinched visibly, tilting her head back and wincing.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked. He finally succeeded and gently slipped the glasses off, exposing the halfway covered up black eye and the other normal one, both of them beautiful.

Sharpay stood up straight again, and looked at him, her mouth slightly agape.

"Did you think I was going to hurt you?" Troy asked, taken aback. She shook her head. Troy stared into her eyes, unable to notice that they were still bloodshot. She had called him at two in the morning, he reminded himself. He stroked her cheek, paled from heavy makeup, with one of his thumbs, and studied her. She gazed away and looked down at the ground.

"Troy please don't judge me." she pleaded, "I know some of the things I do are strange, and sometimes I can't explain my actions, but please, give me a chance-"

"I'm not judging you." Troy said gently, interrupting her, stroking her cheek again, his hand still cupping her face. Sharpay nodded. "I just want to get to know you." he said, "And I'd really like to know what's going on with you."

"Family troubles." Sharpay said. "I'm sorry, but I really can't tell you anymore than that right now."

Troy sighed and nodded, "Okay then, I won't pry. Just tell me one thing." Sharpay bit her lower lip looking hesitant, worried about what he might ask, "That eye?" Troy asked, "You swear you got it from a car door?"

Sharpay sighed, relieved, and nodded, "I swear to God, the car door hit me in the eye." she said.

"Okay then." Troy seemed satisfied and leaned in to kiss her softly, handing her back her sunglasses, "I guess you can put these on again if you want."

* * *

**A/N: For the record, Sharpay makes _me_ really sad in this story, especially since I already know what's going through her head. Sigh, Troy, I'm dissapointed in how much of an idiot you are going to have to be for a little while. But I am the writer, so I guess that's my own agenda... **

**Please review, I have a smaller number of readers for this story and that's fine, just as long as those of you who do read leave your comments. I apologize if this chapter seemed a little too short, I promise more tomorrow, but it is one a.m. here, and though I am not tired, I'm afraid if I attempted to keep writing into the night my brain might become tired and delerious and you would all be reading updates tomorrow about Sharpay and Troy riding rainbow colored unicorns through the snowy Alpines. **

**xoxo, xGuiltyxPleasure**


	6. The Married Girl

**A/N: So, you guys want to here a seriously ironic story? Last night, I was walking out of the bathroom near my dad's bedroom, and I swung the door open too hard, hitting my head. It hurt really bad but I completely started cracking up because I thought of how unlikely I'd tried to make Sharpay's story seem, and then something similar happened to me. I didn't hurt my eye, but I did have a knot on my forehead. My dad thought I was laughing because I'm such a klutz, but I was really thinking about this story. That was a random useless story about the author, but I had to share... Anyways, here's the next chapter:**

* * *

Troy's phone rang as him and Sharpay were munching down on salads at lunch. He pulled his blackberry out, seeing Chad Danforth's name displayed on the caller id. Troy was suppost to be having dinner with Chad and Taylor that night and he figured he should answer in case Chad was calling to tell him that something had changed.

"Would you excuse me for just a minute?" Troy asked Sharpay, smiling apolegetically.

"Sure." she smiled back at him, stuffing another forkfull of spinach in her mouth. He jumped up from their outdoor table at the casual sandwich shop. He walked a few feet before picking up the phone.

"Hello?" Troy continued to walk far enough away to not disturb the other people eating outdoors. He stopped at the street corner.

"'Sup man?"

Troy smiled hearing the old familiar voice over the phone, as if nothing had changed in all these years. "Hey Chad."

"Taylor asked me to call and confirm dinner plans with you. Which I think is just a stupid chick thing, but she's watching me right now and kind of giving me an evil eye so I don't really have a choice."

Troy laughed, "Well, um, I guess I 'confirm' the plans." he said awkwardly.

"Cool man. I guess I can let you go then?" Chad asked the question as if he was talking to someone else in the room, obviously Taylor, to make sure he had permission to hang up. Troy shook his head, remembering why he didn't want to get married.

"Wait!" Troy said, glancing back at the back of Sharpay's head.

"What's up?" Chad asked.

"Uh, would it be okay if I brought... you know, a date?"

"Oh yeah, sure." Chad replied, "So whose this one? The tattoo artist? That vegan hippy chick? Ooh, is it that stripper you were with the last time you were here? What was her name? Alyson? You should defintely bring a stripper. Ow!"

Troy smiled knowing Taylor had inflicted the "Ow!"

"No, it's none of them, but trust me, you'll find my new date to be just as suprising." Troy stared at Sharpay, her back facing him. Her hair was gleaming in the sun.

"Duh, I should have known. Troy Bolton doesn't ever hook up with the same girl when he comes home." Chad was talking enthusiastically, living vicariously through his still single male friend.

"Well, up until now anyways. This one's definitely different than the stripper or the tattoo artist." Troy continued to look at Sharpay while talking about her, "In a good way." he added.

"Sounds good man. See you tonight? Seven thirty, right?"

"Seven thirty." Troy repeated.

"Alright, talk to you later." Chad said.

"Bye Chad." Troy hit end on his blackberry, and slid it back into its leather case before sticking it in his back pocket.

"Hey," he said to Sharpay as he neared their table again, "are you busy tonight?"

"I've been hanging out with this guy who might be taking me back to his hotel room again tonight." Sharpay said cheekily.

"Definitely keep that in your appointment book." Troy said, "But would you like to go out to dinner with me and a couple of friends first?"

"Sure!" Sharpay nodded.

"Awesome." Troy chose not to tell Sharpay that his friends happened to be Chad and Taylor, old high school aquaintances. He assumed besides seeing them at the engagement party, she hadn't talked to them in years, and thought it would be more humourous if everyone was caught by suprise when they realized they already knew the company.

"So, you're probably not going to let me drive you are you?" Troy asked, a hopeful tone in case she said yes.

"Sorry." she looked down and he could see her eye lids over the rims of the large sunglasses.

"It's okay." Troy sighed, "Seasons at seven thirty."

Sharpay nodded, and then reached her hand out, resting it on Troy's on the table, "I'll drive to your hotel and we can ride together from there, okay?"

Troy's face brightened considerably, "Okay."

* * *

Troy had his arm slipped low around Sharpay's waist as he escorted her towards the resturant. She looked beautiful, as usual, in the simple dark mini dress she'd chosen to wear along with black ankle boots, and fortunately, she was sunglass free. The sunglasses were gone, but her face was heavily made up, looking like it must have taken hours to do. She had layers of concealer over her eye's bruise, so she told Troy, along with heavy liquid and powder foundation. But the injury was hardly noticeable now, save the slight swelling. Troy felt proud to have her on his arm, and he leaned over to kiss the top of her head as they neared the entrance. She looked up at him, suprised, and then smiled, before turning her head back around.

Troy opened the door for her, "After you, my lady." he said.

Sharpay giggled in response and walked through. Troy followed in and came to find Sharpay frozen in place near the entrance of the resturant, a horrified expression on her face as she stared at Taylor and Chad, who had yet to notice the two walking in.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked.

Sharpay looked up at him, panic playing on her face, and then back at Taylor and Chad as they turned around to greet the two.

"Sharpay?!" Taylor exclaimed. She looked at Troy as if waiting for him to explain the blonde's presence.

"Hi." Sharpay murmured softly.

Chad looked at Troy, "This is your... you _date?_" he asked.

Troy nodded, "Yeah, you guys remember Sharpay."

Sharpay looked at him, "Troy, I have to go home." she muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Troy asked her. "What's going on?" he asked Chad.

"You brought Sharpay. As your date." Chad said.

"I'm aware of that Chad!" Troy snapped.

"Taylor..." Sharpay said.

"Does Charles know your here?" Taylor asked.

"Whose Charles?" Troy asked Sharpay. He looked up at Chad in confusion, begging his friend for help. Chad only shook his head.

Troy looked back at Sharpay, who softly shook her head at Taylor.

"Please don't say anything to Charles, please." she pleaded with Taylor.

"Hey," Taylor held up her hands, "I doubt I'd ever get the chance, and it's not my place."

"How many?" A young employee of the resturant approached them.

"Four." Taylor said.

"Follow me."

They followed the girl, Troy doing so very hesitantly.

"Who's Charles?" he whispered to Sharpay.

"My cousin." Sharpay whispered back.

"You expect me to believe that?" Troy asked back. Sharpay opened her mouth in protest, and looked up at Troy helplessly.

"Someone will be with you in a second." The girl said to the group as they sat down. She turned and left them.

"Who's Charles?" Troy said, adressing everyone this time.

"Sharpay didn't tell you?" Taylor asked. She looked disapprovingly at Sharpay.

"Obviously not." Troy said. He sighed, and rubbed his temples, not liking the way the conversation was heading.

"Charles is my, h-he's m-my..." Sharpay swallowed hard and stared at Troy, unable to finish her sentence.

"YOUR WHAT?!" Troy suddenly roared, shocking himself as well as tables around him.

Sharpay brought her arm up to shield her face, and shrank back away from Troy. Troy brought her arm down away from her face to look in her eyes.

"He's your what?" he asked much softer this time. Sharpay was tearing up, and despite what Troy thought she was about to reveal, he felt bad for having yelled at her.

"Husband." she said. Her watery eyes scanned his face waiting for his reaction.

"Your husband?" Troy said, his voice dangerously calm, "Your husband. Right, your husband. Your husband, because you're married. You're married. _You _are _married_. I'm not married. I'm single. But you're not single. You're married. Married." he couldn't stop the rambling that poured from his disbelieving mouth.

"Troy." Sharpay put her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry."

"How could you not tell me you're married?" he shouted. Again, she shrank back, and fresh tears sprang in her eyes. She brought her hands up in protection.

"I'm sorry." she said again.

"So was that your 'family emergency'?" he asked.

"I-I have to go to the bathroom." Sharpay said. She jumped up from the table abruptly and fled to the restrooms.

"You were right dude. That was way more interesting than the date with the stripper." Chad said.

"Shut up Chad!" Taylor said. "You had no idea, huh?" she asked Troy.

"She said she lived in a bad neighborhood or something, so she didn't want me to come to her house." Troy replied.

"Ha!" Chad said loudly, "Sharpay lives in a multi-million dollar gated mansion!"

"You slept with her?" Taylor asked.

"Well, yeah." Troy said. He looked up, confused, "Wait, how are you two suddenly like, Sharpay experts? Chad, at your engagement party you said it was weird she came."

"I said Taylor sent out the invitations. She knows her a little. She works indirectly under Sharpay's husband." Chad said.

"Funny." Taylor muttered, "Sharpay's like the perfect surburban house wife. You should see her and Charles. He's head over heels in love with her. Guess you can never really tell what goes on between two people when no one's around..."

"Nah Tay, this is just how rich people are." Chad said, "No rich couple ever stays completely faithful. Ever."

"I really like her." Troy spoke up.

"She's married Troy." Taylor said.

"I know..." Troy sighed, "But I haven't felt the way I feel about her in a really, really long time."

"You can't be considering... still seeing her?" Taylor asked.

Troy stared down at his lap, "I'll talk to her when she gets back from the restroom. The least I can do is give her a chance to explain."

"Or she could just lie, like she has so far." Taylor pointed out.

"What can I get you to drink?" The waitress suddenly stood at their table, staring at them expectantly, her empty writing pad flipped open.

* * *

**A/N: Troy! Go comfort Sharpay! Okay, so I have difficulty at times writing scenes where things don't work out perfectly the way I'd like them to, and I get angry with myself. But that makes good plot. I couldn't write a twenty five chapter story on Troy and Sharpay hugging. **

**She's married! Shocker! Okay, so everyone already knew that because it was in the summary. **

**Taylor saying, "Guess you can never tell what goes on between two people when no one's around..." Not too over reaching, I hope? Think of it as foreshadowing. **

**This actually took me forever to write. I had to think a whole bunch about how things were gonna go down, since this is a tres important chapter, and I needed everything to line up later...**

**Review! And BTW, I cannot tell you how dissapointing it is to get seven messages from this site in my inbox and have them all be alerts unaccompanied by reviews! I need more acknowledgement than that. I'm an attention whore. Haha, jk. But seriously, review. **


	7. Reasoning and Understanding

Troy finished off his glass of red wine. He had tried not to drink it too quickly, for fear of being rude, but the stress of the evening left him severely needing alcohol in his system.

He sighed loudly, "Do you think she's coming back?" he asked. Sharpay had been gone for roughly fifteen minutes. "I hope she didn't kick the window out in the bathroom or something."

"Wouldn't doubt it." Taylor said, "That's what I would have done."

"She rode here with me though." Troy reasoned.

"She could call a taxi cab." Chad pointed out.

Troy stood up, "I'm going to go try and talk to her." he said.

Chad and Taylor nodded and Troy left the table, feeling awkward as he drew nearer to the restrooms. What was he going to do? Knock outside the women's restroom and yell in for her to come out? He had a better idea, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He dialed her number and was relieved when he could hear the faint ringing of her phone from within the bathroom. He heard several distinct sniffling noises, and then she picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Why don't you come out?" he asked. He heard her breath hitch when she realized he was right outside of the door, "I'm your ride home, so you can't exactly ignore me all night. And I, at least, would like some sort of explanation or voice from you on the matter."

She sighed, "...Okay. Just, give me a minute."

Troy leaned against the wall and waited patiently. He wasn't so much upset with her as he was dissapointed to discover the reality of the situation. He had really liked her and would have liked to have had the oppurtunity to start a relationship. Sure, he was going home at the end of the week, but he had even been toying with the idea of staying a little longer to give them a chance to become better aquainted. It was a little foolish and out of character for him, and granted, he knew he was getting a little ahead of himself. But he loved the feelings he got when around Sharpay, and he was starting to think these feelings were specific to her. Her being married though did not allow him to even fantasize about the possibility of a future with Sharpay. He could hope, but he knew how marital affairs usually ended. They didn't yield positive outcomes for anyone involved. Beyond that, Troy was in no way okay with infidelity. He would never want to be the reason for a couple ending their marriage. But he had definitely been falling pretty hard for Sharpay the past couple of days; that much was undeniable.

Sharpay opened the door, and he could see her eyes were red from crying. He felt a sharp pang go through him. She was clearly upset about him discovering she was married. Obviously, she wasn't merely some slut looking for a good time, or she would have been out in the open about her marital status in the first place, or at least, wouldn't have gotten this wound up when he found out. He wondered if it was because she too had feelings for him, or if him thinking that was merely him being vain.

"Troy." she said, "I don't want to go back out there with them and everyone at the tables around. I want to talk to you one on one, and explain."

Troy nodded slowly. By them, he realized she meant Chad and Taylor, and he was reminded of Taylor warning him that Sharpay could lie to him again if he gave her the chance. Still, he was inclined to believe the words she spoke, even if by sheer will.

"We shouldn't just leave them at dinner. That would be rude." Troy said.

"Why?" Sharpay asked, "They're an engaged couple. It's not like the two have any problems being out alone together. Troy, let's just drive around for a little while, and I can talk, and then you can take me back to my car."

Troy nodded, "I guess. I could ask them." He felt like it might make him come off as somewhat of a douchebag, showing up with a married woman who's husband was Taylor's boss, and bailing on his high school best friend to be with her, when he hadn't really seen Chad in years. But he wanted to talk to Sharpay. He felt like he needed some sort of closure, given the large affections he could only now label as a crush he had developed for her in the most recent days.

"Thanks." Sharpay sniffled again, and walked beside Troy towards Chad and Taylor's table.

Both looked up in curious anticipation when they saw Troy arriving back at the table with his alleged date.

"Guys," Troy started, "You're going to think I'm an inane jackass, but,"

"It's okay Troy." Taylor cut in, understanding, "You guys can leave."

Troy nodded greatfully. "Chad," he said, "Do you think we could hang out another time before I go home?"

Chad was clearly dissapointed, and shook his thick head of curls, "I don't know Troy. I'd like too. But I'm kind of busy. All our spare time lately has gone towards planning this wedding, and you know, I'm pretty tied down with work." At this point he shot a pointed glance at Sharpay, "Not all of us have the luxury of getting to spend every moment as we please. All though, if infidelity becomes your hobby as a result of it, maybe it's a good thing that neither Taylor or I will ever have that advantage."

Sharpay gasped, his words sticking in her chest like a kitchen knife. Troy felt an inexplicable surge of protectiveness wash over him briefly. He let it pass, but still felt he should say something in Sharpay's defense.

"You don't know her situation." Troy said softly, "There's no need for insults."

"Really nice Chad." Taylor hissed.

"What?" he asked, clueless.

"Taking cheapshots at my boss' wife?" she asked.

"I doubt he even knows who you are." Chad said, "And besides, I have a feeling this is one conversation she won't be retaliating later."

Troy glanced over at Sharpay who swallowed, and stared down at her feet. She rubbed her elbows with her hands, and Troy was ready to have her out of such an uncomfortable situation.

"I'll talk to you guys later." he said, "We should be going." he placed his hand low on Sharpay's back, and then remembered that he was no longer intending on pursueing her. She was off the market. He placed his hand instead, lightly on her elbow. They started to leave the resturant, and then Troy remembered the red wine he'd drinken.

"Oh, shit." he said turning around, "Here, let me buy your supper."

Taylor shook her head, "No, Troy you didn't even eat, don't worry about it."

"No, really. I want too. I feel bad." Troy insisted, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. Chad stopped him, placing a hand on his wrist.

"Seriously. We would feel wierd about it." Chad said. Troy felt his face grow hot. He was feeling more and more like an ass with each growing second.

"Okay then." he agreed, "I guess I'll see you two later. It was really nice catching up with you. Uh, Chad, give me a call if you have any free time in your schedule, okay?"

Chad nodded, "Will do. I may give you a call either way, at least to chat."

Troy nodded, "Sounds good. I'll talk to you guys later then."

The three said their goodbyes, Sharpay hanging back in the background awkwardly. Finally, Troy turned around and the two began walking out silently, side by side.

It was only then that Sharpay turned around and with a wave called, "Bye." over her shoulder.

* * *

Troy didn't say anything until after they had pulled out of the resturant's parking lot. He turned on the road to take them back towards the hotel. Troy knew the drive would be entirely to short for him to quench his curiosity, but he figured it would still give him plenty of oppurtune time to ask Sharpay questions.

"When Chad said you had the "luxury" of spending every moment the way you wanted," these were the first words Troy spoke, and they caused Sharpay to lightly jump in her seat, before turning her head and looking at his face, "you didn't really get fired from your last job did you?" he asked.

Sharpay shook her head, "Never worked a day in my life." she admitted.

"Why not?" Troy inquired.

"I met Charles in college." she replied, "I was a sophmore at U of A, studying drama. He was twenty seven when I started dating him; I was nineteen. Basically, he was what I'd always wanted for myself. He'd already taken on his father's company, and had had time at that point to make plenty of his own money besides his inheritance. When he proposed to me, I immediately said yes, knowing I'd always be well taken care of. He seemed to want to spoil me as much as I wanted to be spoiled. He didn't want me to work and he asked me to quit school for him. He wanted me at home. I'd always had dreams of being an actress, but for some reason he was really against me working... It was safer anyways to marry Charles. And then I had all the money I could ever need. I couldn't refuse him."

Troy was silent for a minute, "So why do you cheat on...Charles." It felt wierd for Troy to feel the name of the phantom husband on his own tongue, "Do you just get bored? Am I your first?"

"Charles is away on business a lot." she answered. She turned away from Troy, looking out at the dark road lit up by yellow lights. She pressed her forehead against the cool glass pane of the window. "I've cheated on him five other times besides you."

Troy sighed, feeling used, and despite the fact that he was now fighting with himself to push Sharpay away, he was dissapointed. He had wanted to think that he had been special to her in some way, that she had been experiencing the same giddy emotions he had the past few days.

"They were different from you though." Sharpay added. Troy's heart lept.

"The other five were all one night stands." she continued, "I fell into bed with them. I never went on dates. I didn't talk to them the next day. But I know you Troy. I've always felt a connection with you. I couldn't help but see where things might go between the two of us if we were given a chance..." she was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry Troy." she finally muttered.

Troy let out a breath, "So those times you've cheated on your husband. Do you just get lonely?"

"Lonely?" she seemed to ponder the word, "He comes home sometimes. The night we met up at the party, he was coming back from a trip the next day. But then he was suppost to be going on a long weekend buisiness retreat the following night. That morning after you and I slept together, he called me and said he was driving home. He randomly decided to come and check in on me. He does that sometimes. He's never caught me cheating on him yet, but he's extremely suspicious. He can't stand the thought. I'd hate to see what he'd do if he ever did catch me cheating on him."

"You should stop." Troy said softly.

Sharpay sighed, "The reason I do it... I don't know if lonely would be the word, but...it's nice to feel loved, even if it's only for one night."

"You don't think your husband loves you?" Troy asked.

"I think he loves me." Sharpay replied softly, "But..."

"You don't love him?" he took another guess.

"Of course I love him! He's my husband." she defended the sanctity of he marriage.

"Well..." Troy didn't understand completely, and he got the feeling there were things she was choosing to leave out. He didn't want to press further and impose any more on her life, however. He actually felt sort of sorry for her, and couldn't say he completely blamed her. As a teenage girl, she had married a man eight years older than her more or less for his financial standing, given up her individual dreams, and continued to live from that point out in the home of a husband who was rarely there.

Even if she wasn't telling him the full story, Troy was pretty sure he understood her anyways.

* * *

**A/N: Does he, now? Like I've said in the past, if you alert or favorite, how about dropping a review while your at it? The time it takes is minimal. And if you haven't alerted or favorited... you can still review, and are greatly encouraged to do so. ;) xoxo. **


	8. Blacker Than Black

Troy and Sharpay had both exited his car silently and now stood in the hotel parking lot awkwardly, neither one knowing the appropriate thing to say after the set of events that had taken place that night. Troy fidgeted with the button on the right pocket of his jeans.

"Sharpay." he started, trying to think of a way to say goodbye that would express the way he had been feeling about her, while at the same time cutting whatever ties had been formed over the course of their short time together. He sighed, "I've had a wonderful time with you."

"Me too." Sharpay interjected, though not intending to interrupt him.

Troy looked up, slightly annoyed, and continued, "I think you're very...very..." Troy searched for the right word to use. Special? No, that would be too corny. Troy found himself searching Sharpay's face as if the word was secretly in-coded on her body somewhere, "beautiful." he said. The warmth that glowed in Sharpay's face when he used the word made him feel rushed, like he needed to say his final goodbyes before he got sucked into the blonde's spell again. "Uh, needless to say, I guess we probably won't be seeing each other again before I go back home."

"What?" Sharpay sounded genuinely surprised, as if the thought had never occurred to her. This threw Troy off-guard. She had just revealed to him that she was married. _Married._

Sharpay closed the several feet between the two in a brief amount of time, suddenly so close to Troy that all his senses were able to take in were the spritzes of her subtle perfume, the delicious warmth of her body's sudden closeness to his, and the feeling of her glorious chest so gently pressed against his own.

"Troy?" she said his name so desperately, and he forced himself to look down at her directly. The needy look in her large eyes was too much for Troy. He was swept with the overwhelming want to kiss her lips, her hair, her breasts, her eyelids, the birthmarks on her neck.

"What do you mean we won't be seeing each other again?" she repeated the words as if they'd been outrageous when spoken by Troy.

Troy did his best to guard his eyes while looking at her, like he was looking into the sun, "Sharpay I-"

"Troy." Sharpay pushed herself a little closer to him, the surface of his chest against her pushing up her cleavage, almost like an offering to Troy, the cherished prize he could win if he continued to aid her in commiting adultery against her husband. He shut his eyes against the temptation. He opened them again when he felt her cool hands on his cheeks. She angled his face so his eyes would meet hers perfectly.

"Troy, I need to see you." she said, both anxiously and vehemently.

"Sharpay." he said firmly. He put his hands on her elbows and softly pushed her off of him. As stupid as it was, part of him was angry at Chad and Taylor for forcing him to know about Sharpay's hidden life. Had they not, he could at this very moment allow Sharpay to cling to him as tightly as she wanted, and walk her upstairs to his hotel room guilt-free. At the moment there was nothing he longed to do more.

"You're married." he informed her, in case she had forgotten, as she seemed so able to do so every time they were together.

"I know." Sharpay had put each of her hands on one of his shoulders now, "But I need you Troy."

"Sharpay you need to go home." he said, as emotionless as possible. He backed away from her, and she followed his steps, irritating him again.

"I'm going inside now." he said, "Goodbye." He turned and left her, wishing to keep some of his dignity by not running away, but also quickening his pace as much as he could manage while still remaining at a walking speed, hoping to make it safely to his room without having her follow.

When he reached the curb entrance of the hotel, he turned back around and looked for her. She already had the door to her SUV open, and was climbing in. To his horror, she looked up and locked eye contact with him, one final time, before slamming the door so loudly it could be easily heard at any point in the parking lot or from inside the hotel. Troy gulped, and turned back around, heading into his hotel casually as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place.

* * *

_Knock Knock Knock Knock._

When the knocking awoke him, Troy blinked at the red light on the hotel alarm clock. Three a.m. The knocking had stopped during the moment's time it took him to gain his bearings.

_Knock Knock Knock Knock._

It started again. Troy stood up wearily, his back aching, and his legs feeling weak. His heart pounded in his chest as he went to answer the door, not comprehending who could possibly be at his hotel room door in the middle of the night.

When he opened the door, the bright, always lit hallway light flooded into his pitch dark room, burning his eyes. But even more disconcerting was the blonde who stood in his doorway, alluminated by the light.

"Sharpay what the hell are you do-" He stopped talking when he saw the river of tears that was falling down her face.

"Sharpay?" Troy felt awkwardly frozen in the doorway. Despite her upsetting sobs, he was unable to resist asking, "How did you manage to get up here?"

Sharpay wiped at her face frantically with the backs of her hands, "The concierge that works the night shift recognized me from the other night and let me up. I told him I was your girlfriend."

"Why'd you come here?" Troy asked.

"I think I'm going to leave my husband." Sharpay said.

"What?" Troy was dumbfounded and unsure how he should respond. As he stood there contemplating it, Sharpay closed the door and moved her body in to be close to his, and kissed his mouth fiercely. He could feel the fresh sticky tears on her cheek rubbing against his face. His brain was still attempting to sort out the weight of what she had just told him. If she was leaving her husband... did that mean she was doing it for him? Was it just another lie meant to manipulate him?

Troy was unable to think for long before his desires took over all areas of his body, leaving no room for logic and reasoning. Upon this shift, Troy firmly slipped his arm all the way around Sharpay's waist, and pulled her tightly against him. He caressed her cheek with the palm of his hand over and over again, and he kissed her lips back as fervently as she kissed him. It was okay, he told himself. If she was planning on leaving her husband, then it couldn't _really_ be considered cheating.

After several minutes of merely kissing her, as both their lips had just begun to swell, he picked her up, taking her into his arms marriage style, and carried her over to his bed, setting her down. He fell back down on the bed too, crawling over her body, and kissing her again.

He sat up and pulled her into his lap, then reached over to the nightstand and turned on the lamp.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I want to be able to see you." Troy said. He wiped at her tears gently with his fingertips.

Sharpay nervously bit her lip and looked down at her hands, fidgeting with them.

"You're still crying." Troy murmured.

Sharpay gave him a small smile in response, and leaned in to kiss him again, his dry hands enveloping her wet cheeks. He trailed his lips down and sucked a tender spot on her neck, moving his hands through her long tresses. She placed her left hand stilly on his chest, and with her other hand, massaged his shoulder softly. He moved his hands down to her butt, and caressed it, his lips moving back up to her own. He kissed her and then looked up to meet her eyes, happy to see that her tears appeared to be drying up. He held her gaze as his palms felt the gentle curve of her butt, before moving his hands once more, his fingers now dancing at the hem of her tank top. He kissed her lips softly again, and his hands slid underneath the fabric, rubbing the soft, smooth skin of her tummy. Then again he looked up into her eyes, and his hands moved further north. Over the fabric of her bra, he allowed his hands to rest, doing no more than cupping her breasts. He listened to the sounds of her soft breath, the only noise in the silent hotel, and felt her chest gently rise and fall in sync to the sounds. She moved her hands slowly down his chest, already bare because he had been laying in bed asleep, clad only in boxer shorts when she arrived. Her hands stopped at his stomach, and she rubbed them over it, and smiled at him, before leaning in for yet another of their sweet kisses.

Troy mused to himself that for his time with Sharpay to be alleged adultery, it was far from the stereotypical relationship one might expect in the given situation. He felt a deep connection with her that went far beyond sex. In fact, when they had made love the bond had seemed present even then, though he realized how little time he had truely spent with Sharpay over the past few days. It had connected the two of them in sex in a way that Troy would not have thought possible, and out of all the previous "relationships" he had been in, all fell short to his one night with Sharpay.

Now that they sat kissing and touching each other on his bed, he was amazed again, as he had been the first night, at the sweetness and innocence that took form. Their relationship felt innocent...well just because it felt right. Troy felt inclined to be with her for reasons beyond physical attraction, and that was something unusual for him, and therefore, wonderful.

Troy lifted her shirt over her head. He slipped his hands inside of her bra and fondled her breasts as they kissed, his tongue finding its way inside of her mouth. He kissed down her jawline, before nuzzling his head into her neck, and kissing behind her earlobe, making her let out a small giggle. Continuing to kiss and nuzzle her neck, he reached his hands around her, and unhooked her bra, letting it fall off of her. He pressed his hands firmly on her back, and while continuing his feast on her neck, pulled her in firmly to him, pressing her naked chest against his. She whimpered.

Troy smiled and pulled his head back, gazing at the exposed upper half of her body. He leaned foward again, kissing the valley between her breasts, and once again had his hands pressed on her back. In his passion, he pulled her in fervently against him, trying to eliminate any distance between their bodies. Again Sharpay whimpered, this time louder and following a gasp. Troy's lips retreated once more.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Sharpay nodded a little, biting her lower lip.

"You're sure?"

Again Sharpay nodded, but this time she smiled at Troy, and extended her arms out to him, wrapping them around his neck. Troy smiled and wrapped his arms around her lower waist, squeezing her tightly as he forced her hard against him. Yet again, Sharpay gasped slightly in what was obvious pain. Troy released his hold from her, seeing that this wasn't going to stop.

"I'm sorry Troy." Sharpay said. Her eyes pleaded with him, as if she thought he was angry with her.

Troy kissed her once on the lips to assure her that wasn't the case. He crawled behind her on the bed to view her back and hopefully discover why she whimpered every time he tried to touch her. Troy stared at her back when he finally saw it, first not knowing if the lighting wasn't just playing tricks on him. Black. Blacker than black. Her back was covered in large, dark, painful bruises, blacker than any bruise he had ever seen in his lifetime. They were all over her. Troy felt like he was going to be sick.

"Sharpay..." he said. He could hear his voice shaking, but he was surprised he had spoken at all. He felt removed from his body. "What happened to you?"

"I tripped carrying my laundry down the stairs, and-"

"Sharpay!" he cut her off, "What happened to you?" He knew her stories were bullshit now. He needed the truth. He lightly fingered one of her bruises, still amazed by them in a horrified way, waiting for her answer.

He heard her sharp intake of breath, and as her back started rising and falling, he realized she was crying again.

"What happened to you?" he asked one final time, not wanting to accept what the horrifying answer he already knew was true until he heard it from her.

Somehow, through her tears she managed to say, "You mean who."

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger!! Yay, I updated! I wrote around 1200 words of this last night, and then was too tired to finish, so I wrote the other half of it tonight. This was a juicy chapter, so hopefully you're satisfied with it! :) And besides the action and secrets unraveling, there was also a slight bit of Troypay smut too. ;) (So maybe they didn't finish, but it's still nice to have, right?) **

**At this point, you may imagine that my street performance is finished, and I have my guitar case open for donations. Only, I've finished my chapter, and am now gladly taking reviews. ;) xoxo.**


	9. Make Love

Troy couldn't believe the amount of anger coursing through his body. Sharpay had just said, 'You mean who.' _Who. _He was staring at the huge, dark, and swollen bruises that covered the entirety of her back and the knowledge that a person had done this to Sharpay was beyond sickening.

"Who?" he asked, suprised to hear the word come out of his mouth. He felt like he was suddenly rushing back in to his body, and becoming aware again of where he was.

Instead of answering, Sharpay's soft sobs become full fledged, and she pulled her knees up to her naked chest, laying her head on top of them. Without thinking, Troy began to rub her back, and then looked down at his hand, seeing the blackened skin underneath it, and quickly pulled it away. She was to the left of him, and he instead wrapped his arms around her shoulders, scooting her in close to him, and kissing the top of her head over and over again.

Her husband. Charles.

"Did he do this to you?" Troy asked her very softly.

Sharpay didn't say anything, and kept her head angled down into her knees, but she nodded her head up and down several times while sobbing, confirming Troy's assumption. The bastard. Troy could feel his heart began to pound and his blood boiled as he thought of what he wanted to do to the son of a bitch once he could get his hands on him.

Still, he whispered gingerly, "Oh Sharpay." and said nothing of his want for revenge, not wanting to upset her.

After a while, her crying stopped. She lifted her head, and let out a quaking breath. Then she let her head flop sideways into Troy's chest, who instinctively pulled her onto his lap. He stroked her hair. He wanted so badly to say something to her, but he didn't want to speak to soon, so he remained silent. While he did, he mused over his trip back home. It was suppost to be like any other, quick and uneventful. Last week he never would have thought he would be in a hotel room in this situation with an old high school class mate, and out of all of them, with Sharpay Evans, for godsake, the former reigning drama queen of East High. What was most shocking, was that he found himself willing to do whatever he could and beyond that to help her.

Troy thought about the bruise on her back the first night she had come back to his hotel room. It had been large and dark, like the many, many more that she now wore. But it was only one bruise, and her story had been so specific. Anyone could have easily believed her and overlooked that bruise. But the black eye? He'd had initial suspicions about it. He felt like an idiot for having let her convince him to let go of them so easily, but Sharpay had a gift for getting people to do what she wanted them to.

"You promised me you hit your eye with a car door." Troy said to her.

"I know." Sharpay replied, "I did. It just... it wasn't me who opened the door."

Troy wanted to yell, but instead supressed his anger, and let out a loud grunt instead.

"Fucking bastard." he muttered under his breath.

"Actually, that one was an accident on his part." Sharpay added, "He had come home that day, saying he just wanted to check in. But we ended up getting in this huge argument over how long I was allowed to stay out when he's not home. He dragged me out to the car, and said I was coming back with him, where he could keep his eye on me. He flung open my door, but he really didn't mean for it to hit me. You could see it on his face. He was completely taken by suprise. He put me in the car anyways, and we drove for a while, but he started to feel really bad, especially when it started to swell. So he took me back home, and made love to me to make up for it. Then he left, and I called you after a while, when I was sure he wasn't coming back again."

Troy couldn't help it. He had removed his hands from her upon hearing her talk about her husband "making love to her." It disgusted him to think of another man touching the same girl the day after Troy had slept with her. But he was more repulsed at the context in which Sharpay had used the term. "Made love to me to make up for it." The casual way in which she delivered the words made him extremely angry. He was appalled at himself, realizing that he held anger not only towards her husband, but towards Sharpay as well. He knew it was completely wrong to think that way, but still the irrational, upset part of his brain produced the thought, 'How could she let him do this to her?' in frustration.

"Sharpay do you realize what you just said?" Troy asked, trying to shove any tone of irritability out of his voice. He couldn't blame this on her. That would make him just as much of a coward and a monster as the man who had inflicted the bruises in the first place. "Your husband, in the process of forcing you into his car, gives you a black eye, and then later gets you in bed and has sex with you, to make _amends_for what he's done to you? Sharpay, that's seriously fucked."

"I know that." Sharpay replied. She turned her face to look at him, "Why did you take your hands off of me?" she asked.

Troy looked down at his hands, now placed on either side of him on the matress. He said nothing. Sharpay's hand rested over his, and then she picked it up, and moved it to her breast, rubbing the hand over the area once they made contact. Troy stared at his hand as she moved it, allowing her to have free range, but he never moved it on his own.

"Sharpay?" he asked. She stopped the circular motion she had been moving his hand in, and left it still.

"Are you really going to leave your husband?" Troy asked.

Sharpay swallowed, and looked down at her lap. "I... yes. I am."

Troy didn't know how convincing she sounded, and he didn't know if he should believe her or not.

"It's going to be complicated." Sharpay said, "I signed a prenup."

"A prenup?" Troy muttered under his breath. He looked up at Sharpay in shock, "You're worried about money?"

"If I cheat on him, or if I leave him, I don't get anything that's his. If he cheats on me or leaves me, I get three fourths. The only way we both go with half is due to 'irreconcilable differences'." Sharpay explained, "And I don't think he'll ever leave me, or agree to divorce." She looked down again and muttered bitterly, "Though he probably cheats on me pretty regularly on all those 'buisness trips'."

"Money? Goddamn it Sharpay!" Troy yelled.

He looked at her and saw that she was visibly cowering. She adverted her eyes from his, and trembled slightly, recovering from the fear that shook within her every time she heard a loud noise. Troy's heart ached, and he immediately felt guilty.

"That's just an excuse isn't it?" he asked softly. He was finally starting to understand, and it was incredibly saddening.

Sharpay looked up at him. Tears welled in her eyes. "I'm really scared of him." she said.

"Sssh. I know." Troy pulled her back into his arms again, and stroked her hair, allowing her to cry.

Sharpay pulled her head away from his chest merely seconds later.

"He's been in control of my life for so long." she explained. Troy nodded.

"I don't know if I..." she trailed off, and looked up at him, desperate, her eyes pleading with him. Troy kissed her.

"I'll help you Sharpay. I promise I'll help you." he told her, "But you're going to have to be strong and hold your own, okay?"

Sharpay nodded, though in a way that he could tell she wasn't entirely sure of herself. Troy kissed her forehead. Sharpay tilted her head back and captured his lips with hers, in response. They kissed for a moment, until Sharpay's tongue found its way into Troy's mouth.

"We should stop." Troy said, pulling back. He couldn't sleep with her now, he just couldn't. He knew how wrong that would be. It would feel like he was taking advantage of her.

"Troy, make love to me." Sharpay said softly. She kissed Troy again, and then pulled away again, looking into his eyes. "Please." she added.

Troy felt the impulses of desire causing him to lean back in and kiss her again. He willed himself to stop, and he could feel his rising member below fighting him on it. Sharpay began placing kisses on his chest, and then he felt one of her small hands beginning to rub circles over his lap. Troy could feel his conscience beginning to loose the battle to his growing erection.

"Sharpay we need to stop." he told her.

She didn't listen, and instead pushed him by his chest gently back on to the bed, kissing down to his abs.

"We can't do this now." he said. "It just doesn't seem right."

Sharpay moved her head back up to Troy's and looked at him.

"Troy, I need you." she said, "Please. Just be there for me."

Troy put his hands up to his temples in frustration. Now he didn't even know if his conscience was correct. Maybe the right thing to do was just to 'be there' for Sharpay. He felt her sliding his boxers down him, and as she took his member in her hands, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop this now. He could feel her mouth slowly approaching. The thought struck him that maybe he should be there for her, but not the other way around. He put his hands on her head, and pulled her up to his face, and kissed her. He would pleasure her, if she needed him, but he wouldn't allow her to do anything solely for his enjoyment. Troy wasn't sure if he'd found the perfect loophole or not, but his brain's effort was growing weaker and weaker by the minute, and it would have to do for now.

"What is it?" she asked.

Troy kissed her nose, "Just let me make you happy, okay?"

Sharpay smiled at him and nodded, giving him her consent.

He reached down to her jeans, and unbuttoned them. He grabbed hold of their waist, also grabbing her underwear in the process, and pulled them down her legs, completely off of her. He spread her legs a little and lightly placed his hand in between them. He kissed her mouth passionately, and danced his fingers along her slit. Sharpay moaned against his lips, causing them to vibrate, sending an electric thrill through Troy. He took his thumb, and pressed firmly down on her clit, pushing it up before letting it back down in fast motions. She spread her legs wider on her own accord. Gasping, she burried Troy's head into her chest, running her hands over his hair.

"Do it Troy." she commanded.

He complied and stuck one finger inside of her, pushing it in and out slowly.

"More Troy." she begged.

Troy inserted two more fingers, and began to pump in and out, rhythmically. Sharpay moaned, and moved her hips with him, for some time, until she finally reached her release.

She shut opened her eyes, layed back and sprawled out across the bed. She reached out and took Troy's now very hardened member into her hand, guiding it near her.

"Stop Sharpay." Troy said. He reached down, and took her hand in his, and placed it back by her side.

"Troy, I want you to make love to me." Sharpay said. Her voice had gone flat.

Troy leaned down and kissed her. He was still fighting himself on the matter, but he knew she would win. When he felt her guiding him into her entrance, he only stopped her to remove her hand, leaving himself in full control. Then he was at last inside of her, and "making love to her" as she had asked. He wasn't sure if she even understood the meaning of those words, considering she had used them earlier to describe what her husband did to her after leaving her with a black eye. But he obeyed her wishes anyways, and suprisingly, he felt no remorse when they at last were spent. He pulled her in close to him, and kissed the side of her head. She hummed softly until he drifted off to sleep.

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**A/N: Please review!!! I'm not going to lie, to only get like six reviews on a chapter for this story, is a little bit dissapointing. So a few more reviews would be nice. But if not, I appreciate so much those of you that do review, so please continue to do so. :) xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo.**


	10. The One at Fault

"Shit."

Troy slowly came awake, hearing Sharpay's sweet voice cursing, as she russled from underneath the covers. He was drifting in and out of consciousness. More than anything, he just wanted to go dback to sleep, but he needed to make sure Sharpay was alright. He rolled over, hoping to take her in his arms and cuddle her back to sleep, without worry.

"Everything okay?" Troy looked at the bed. She'd already gotten up. He must have not been awake enough to register it when she'd gotten out of bed. Suddenly he became aware of an annoying buzzing noise that had been in the background the entire time. He sat up in bed.

Sharpay in her haste had thrown on her tank top over her naked frame. It was twisted sideways, and one of the straps was completely off her shoulder. Her hair was teased up and a little frizzed from the friction against her pillow. Had she not been moving in a frantic state as she hastily dug through her purse looking for the source of the buzzing noise, Troy might have been aroused. But instead he was worried, assuming it was probably her husband calling her.

"Shar?" he asked.

She pulled the phone out and looked down at the I.D.

"Don't answer Sharpay." Troy instructed.

"Shh, shh, shh!" she hissed frantically, flinging her hands in his direction.

Troy quickly hopped out of bed.

"Please Sharpay." he said.

She was about to answer but looked up at Troy upon his request. She glanced between him and the phone.

"You shouldn't feel afraid right now." Troy continued. He walked towards her. "Nothing is going to happen Sharpay. He doesn't know where you are. You don't have to answer that call. You can deal with this later, on your own terms. Don't answer the phone."

Sharpay's eyes looked severely panicked and she froze, her hand clutching the phone in a death grip but never answering it.

"It's okay. You don't need to be scared." Troy said soothingly. He gently took the phone, which had stopped ringing at some point, but started up again immediately, from her hand. She let go of it, but continued to hold her hand up in the position it had been in. Troy clicked 'ignore call'. He held down on the red 'end' button until the phone lit up a "Goodbye!" banner and shut off.

"You're safe with me." Troy told her, looking directly into her eyes. He kissed her forehead. When he withdrew, she held his gaze, her eyes reflecting that of uncertainty and, of course, fear.

"Come back to bed, okay? We'll go back to sleep." Troy offered. He glanced at the clock. Six a.m. They could have gone ahead and gotten up, but Troy wanted more sleeping time, with the blonde beauty in his arms.

Sharpay nodded, and slipped her hand into his, walking back across the hotel room. Troy sat back onto the bed, and Sharpay crawled to the other side of him. She stopped, stiff, sitting up on her knees.

"Come here." Troy held out his arms, laying back against his pillow.

Silently, Sharpay complied, and she nestled into his embrace, managing to give him a small smile. He returned it, and pulled the covers up around them so that they covered her shoulders. He reached back for the table lamp, that Troy had never even noticed was on. He figured Sharpay must have turned it on when she got out of bed. He clicked it off, and then directed his attention back to Sharpay, pressing his forehead against hers.

"When I got home last night," Sharpay spoke, her voice soft spoken but clear, taking Troy by suprise, "He was so angry. I didn't know he'd be there. He's been so paranoid lately. He's always been overprotective anyways, but lately it's just been through the roof. He's always rushing home to check in on me. After he hit my eye, guilt ran him out, but that night he started thinking about our discussion again, about me staying out at night. Taylor called him." She looked up for Troy's reaction.

"She called him last night?" he asked incredeously.

Sharpay nodded, "He told me that she'd said that we had talked, and she really got the feeling I was lonely and missed him. She said she thought it might be a good idea for him to spend more time at home with me or I might... be driven to do things I'd regret."

Troy rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Just what my paranoid husband needed to hear right? So his conversation with Taylor combined with his conversation with me the day before was enough to prompt him to cut the buisness trip short entirely, so he could be at home with me the next couple of days. But when he got home I wasn't there."

"What, did Taylor call him immediately after we left the resturant?" Troy asked, shaking his head, "And how did he get home so soon?"

"He was only a few hours away." Sharpay said, "But... I also didn't go straight home."

"Where did you go?" Troy asked.

"I had to run an errand." Sharpay answered, "But I had to drive out of town and back for it."

"What did you have to do?" Troy asked.

"It's unimportant." Sharpay said.

Troy sighed.

"I'm sorry." Sharpay said.

"Shar." Troy said softly, "There's no use in keeping secrets from me now. I think I've pretty much learned everything."

"Not everything." Sharpay said, with a small forced half-laugh. "Look, it's not anything you need to be worried about. I just had to run a normal errand."

"Most people don't refuse to tell somebody when they go to the grocery store." Troy grumbled, "And as far as I know they don't drive out of town to do it either."

"Troy." Sharpay said, her voice sharp-edged.

Troy stopped talking, and both said nothing for a moment.

"I like it when you call me Shar." she said softly.

Troy smiled a little. He hadn't thought much about it. It seemed like a natural nickname, one he assumed everybody probably referred to her as.

Sharpay shut her eyes, "When we were dating, Charles used to call me... Pay-pay." she smiled at the memory.

Troy's heart panged, as he watched her bittersweet reminiscence. He wondered what it must be like to feel love for someone who scared and hurt you so bad. It seemed unfathomable.

"What happened when you got home?" he probed gently.

Sharpay opened her eyes and all the warmth drained from her face.

"He was already home. He asked me why I'd been out all night dressed up like such a slut." Sharpay said.

Troy could tell she was having a hard time telling the story.

"Uh, Shar?" he asked, interrupting.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever told anyone that Charles...beats you?" Troy asked. The phrase said out loud made him feel sick to his stomach.

"HE DOESN'T BEAT ME!" Sharpay screamed. Troy was completely taken aback.

"He doesn't!" Sharpay insisted, when Troy said nothing, but instead only stared at her in shock. He'd thought that she had already openly admitted he did.

"He has a temper sometimes, and he's taken it out on me before, but he doesn't mean it! You should see how sorry he is afterwards! And I'm partially responsible anyways."

"What?!" Troy interrupted. His blood was boiling, and he felt his heart beating rapidly against his chest, threatening to burst out of its containment entirely.

"Well, I mean, here I am with you!" Sharpay responded, "He's right when he calls me a whore, and wouldn't any husband have a right to be upset about that?"

Troy shook his head, "Sharpay, what the hell are you doing?"

She looked up at him, with her desperate eyes, and shook her head to say that she didn't know the answer to his question.

"You're back-tracking." Troy continued, "Shar, don't defend him. I know he's your husband, but... you have to stop thinking about him in that way regardless. He beats you. Okay?"

She stared blankly back at him.

"He's hurt you. And he will continue to hurt you if you don't get out." Troy studied her expression, "Anything he's told you about the nature of his abuse were lies to get you to stay."

"He loves me." Sharpay said softly.

"I'm sure he does." Troy said gently, "Any man could easily fall in love with you." Sharpay smiled a little at Troy, giving him the response he was aiming for. He now felt like he was dealing with a small child, which made it very odd to think that just a few hours ago he had slept with her.

"But he's very sick Sharpay." Troy said, "He needs help. He's hurting you, physically, and emotionally. You need to stop allowing yourself to be put through this."

"But if he loves me-"

"Those bruises are not from love Sharpay!" Troy snapped.

Sharpay cowered back a little. Troy put his arms around her, and pulled her in close, kissing her forehead. Again, they were silent for a moment or two.

"So what did he do when you got home?" Troy finally asked.

"We started arguing... He kept calling me a slut, and I wouldn't tell him where I had been. We both were pretty upset. He just has a horrible temper Troy. I don't know what else to tell you... He hit me once, hard, in his anger. It usually starts with one hit. Sometimes that's all there is." Troy could hear Sharpay swallow, and for a minute she was unable to talk. Eventually, she continued, "But sometimes... he keeps going. And that's when things can get bad. He kept going last night. I tried to run off... but he kept pulling me back. He was beating his fists into my back... He knocked me down eventually. I finally just curled into a ball to protect my face while he laid into my back. Then he stormed out of the room."

Troy stared at her in horror, "Sharpay that's awful. Why would you defend someone like that?"

Sharpay seemed largely affected by her own story too.

"I don't know... Sometimes it's just habit. I can't help but feel defensive. I married him." she sighed, "After he walked out, I was sitting on the floor crying, and thinking of how badly I wanted to be with you. I was angry too... I just made the decision on a whim that I should leave him."

"It's the right thing to do Sharpay." Troy said encouragingly.

"I hope so." Sharpay said, not as sure as Troy seemed to be. She leaned her face into his chest, "He was probably calling to apologize." she added.

"Sharpay, can I ask you something?" Troy said.

"Hm?" she replied.

"How many times in the past has he 'appologized'?" Troy asked.

Sharpay said nothing for a few seconds, and then sighed, "Too many times to count." she admitted.

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**A/N: Love, like, hate? Review or I may never know. ;) xoxo.**


	11. Trophy Wives

**A/N: So, in light of the fact that I got seven reviews on my last chapter, I have decided to pull a very cliche move for fanfiction writers. I want ten reviews before I put up the next chapter; regardless if it is written or not, I will not post it until I reach my 'quota'. I know, I know, everyone hates it when authors do that, but I mean seriously, my review count is very low. And on this story, that's one thing, because my review count hasn't been the highest, but I got six reviews for my last chapter of Hidden Love, and that was just insulting. lol.**

**Ok, so ten reviews, and the chapter after this one goes up. :) Please. **

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"Sharp- Damn." Troy had just woken up. He stared at the again empty spot on the bed beside him, highly agitated. How often was this going to keep happening? Even if he had deemed her worthy of obvious struggle that would come with trying to be with her, she still could certainly be a headache at times.

"Sharpay?" He yelled loudly. He heard no noise coming from inside his room, but still, he was hoping she was in the bathroom. There was a lapse of total silence, as he breathed, listening closely for evidence of her.

"One second." he heard a weak sounding voice from the otherside of the closed bathroom door. Relief flooded his body. She was safe.

Troy sat back down on the bed, and thought about her. He didn't know how exactly to classify his feelings for her. It seemed too soon to try and label them anything too serious. Yet at the same time, he didn't think he could continue thinking of his feelings for Sharpay as a 'crush'. Originally, his plan was supposed to be to head home early Saturday morning. But now, with it already being Thursday, and with the revelations of the night before, Troy didn't think he could leave Sharpay and go home now. He thought about using the rest of his vacation time from work, and booking his room for another week. Even still, that was such a short amount of time. After all that Sharpay had shared with him, leaving her so soon, with hopes that things worked out for her, would make him feel like he was abandoning her. He may not have known what, exactly, his feelings for her were, but he knew he cared about her far too much to do that.

Sharpay walked out of the bathroom. Her hands were shaking. With one she gripped the brass knob, so hard that her knuckles were white, yet seemed unsuccessful at trying to steady the hand. Her eyes darted quickly over him, high tension visible.

Troy stood up off the edge of the bed and approached her, sensing something was wrong. Her eyes were red again, and as he stepped in closely to her to give her a brief hug, her heart beat was rapid, to say the very least.

"Is everthing okay?" he asked softly, "Have you been crying?"

Sharpay looked up at him, flicking her head fastly, "He knows where I am." she blurted out.

"What?!" Troy excalimed, "Oh, Sharpay..." He placed his forehead in his left palm and shook his head into it softly. "How does he know?"

"I couldn't sleep." Sharpay said, "I kept tossing and turning, and when I'd start to drift I'd start having nightmares about this whole situation. You were long gone, so after a while, I couldn't take it any longer, and decided to end my torture. I got up and turned my phone back on, to check my messages."

Troy felt guilty. He had been so tired, he had just fallen immediately back into sleep without thinking about what she might do when he weren't awake. He should have held her tightly to him, and watched her as she slept, guarding and protecting her.

"He left me several telling me how sorry he was, and begging to know where I was. So, I called him back." Sharpay explained, "He asked me what was going on, and I told him I was at this hotel. He asked me for the room number, and I thought I should just make one up, but then I was scared what he might do if he found out, or that he might be able to tell by my voice that I was lieing, so I just told him."

"What?" Troy rubbed his temples, "Sharpay, no. No, no, no." He let out a grunt of irritation, "So is he coming here?"

"I don't know." Sharpay replied.

"You don't know?" Troy asked, "He didn't tell you anything after that?"

Sharpay shook her head, "He told me he loved me more than anyone could, and not to forget that, and then hung up before I had the chance to say anything else.

"Shit!" Troy exclaimed.

"Are you scared of him?" Sharpay asked.

Troy felt his spine stiffen. Scared? He realized how ridiculous he was acting.

"No I'm not scared of him!" he spat. "I'll kick his ass if he tries to touch you." He tried to puff out his chest a little. As a male, hearing the girl he was after ask him if he was afraid of something hurt his pride, regardless if the current conditions gave reason for him to be at least a little worried.

Sharpay nodded solemnly, but suddenly looked like she didn't feel as safe in his protection as she might have previously thought.

"Sharpay." Troy placed a hand on her cheek and caressed it, "I promise, if he does come here, I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay?"

She nodded. He kissed her lips softly.

"Let's just get ready to leave, okay?" Troy asked her, "And hope for the best."

"Okay." Sharpay agreed, "I'm sorry Troy. It was a moment of weakness."

"It's okay." Troy said softly. He couldn't be angry with her.

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Sharpay walked out of the bathroom, her hair still damp from her recent shower, wearing the jeans and black tanktop she'd showed up in last night. Other than the Prada handbag she'd dropped carelessly in the corner of the room when she'd first come in, she didn't have any other belongings.

She forked her fingers through her damp wavy blonde hair, looking at herself in the mirror that hung over a dresser of empty drawers. Troy sat back on the bed watching her.

"Are you ready to go now?" He asked.

"I haven't done my makeup or dried my hair." Sharpay replied.

"You look really beautiful." Troy said honestly. Sharpay looked past her reflection to his, and they locked eyes through the mirror. She smiled.

"I guess we could leave, if you promise you won't be embarassed to be seen with me looking like this." she said.

Troy rolled his eyes, "Is that another philosophy learned from your husband?" he asked critically.

"Is what?" she replied.

"That it takes a face full of makeup and perfect hair to look beautiful." Troy answered.

"Don't forget designer clothes." Sharpay joked, "Actually, Charles is very controlling of what I wear, but I don't think he's ever said anything about my makeup." Sharpay had grabbed her bag while talking and placed it on the top of the dresser. "I think I learned that 'philosophy' from his friends' wives." She retrieved a light pink lip gloss despite Troy's 'all naturale' tip, and began applying it to her lips. "Of course a lot of them are older than me. Well, the first wives anyways. The men who have second wives are married to woman that are, like, twenty two. Here I am pushing twenty eight." she sighed, "They make me feel like maybe I need the makeup."

"Sharpay." Troy said softly, "You know my dad's always had a passion for basketball."

Sharpay furrowed her brow confusedly, looking at him again via his reflection in the mirror.

"But when I was little, I was really into baseball." Troy continued, "I was pretty good too. I had all my baseball trophies taking over all the shelves in my room. They were my biggest prized possession."

Sharpay turned around so that she was facing the actual Troy, not the image in the mirror.

"But after a while, my dad was successful in passing on his love of basketball to me. It became my number one obsession. I started collecting basketball trophies instead." Troy paused and looked at her face to see if she knew where he was going. Her face relayed a blank stare to him. "Do you know where my baseball trophies are now?" he asked her.

Sharpay shook her head.

"In a box in the basement, forgotten. Shar, those twenty two year old women..." He sighed, "They're not going to stay twenty two for long. They're trophy wives, and they're likely to get replaced over time when those men find new fixes."

"Are you calling me... that?" Sharpay asked. She was fidgeting with her hands, crazily in fact, and Troy stared at them.

"No, I'm saying you're not that." he explained, "Sharpay, you have so much more to offer than just fading looks. You're absolutely beautiful and you always will be, but you're so smart Sharpay, and funny. You're a really amazing person. Don't compare yourself to those girls."

Sharpay smiled at him. It started small, but curled up to reveal her perfect white teeth. Troy smiled back.

"I really like you Troy." she said, when they locked eyes. She threw her lipgloss in her bag, and flung it over her shoulder decisively, chosing to heed Troy's advice and not apply any makeup beyond the lip gloss."

"I really like you too Sharpay." Troy responded. He stood up and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her lower waist. He kissed her forehead, and she smiled up at him.

"You just deserve so much more." Troy added.

Sharpay sighed. "This is so difficult."

"I know." Troy said. "Sharpay, I think I'm going to extend my trip down here longer... to be with you."

"Really?" she kissed his lips softly, "That's so sweet."

"Because I want to make sure you leave your husband." Troy added. He held his breath.

Sharpay backed away from him. Her eyes had watered up.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked quickly, shocked.

"You're just going to stay down here to make sure I 'do the right thing', before you head back home to your regular life, and leave me here?" she accused him, "Troy I've never worked a day in my life! I depend on him. I know it sounds horrible, but I wouldn't know how to live on my own. You can't ask me to leave him, and then leave me."

"Sharpay." Troy said, intterupting her frenzy, "I'm not going to leave you. I promise." He kissed her forehead, and pulled her in close to him.

"Troy, you're a really great guy, but up until last weekend, I hadn't even spoke to you since high school." Sharpay said, "You wouldn't be 'leaving me', you'd just be returning to your normal life."

"I don't want you returning to your normal life." Troy said firmly, "Sharpay, I care a lot about you... I'll take care of you. You could move in with me!" The idea was abrupt, spoken as soon as it popped into his head.

Sharpay looked up in shock, "What? Troy, no, I'm... I'm not going to move in with you! I... Troy I don't know what I'm going to do."

"I'll help you Sharpay. However I can." Troy said earnestly, "Whatever you do decide you want, I'll make sure it happens."

Sharpay nodded slowly, and tried to force a weak smile. Troy pulled her tightly against him again. She slipped her arms around his neck, and pressed her head against his chest. They stood still for a moment.

Their moment of peace was interrupted by a hard knock on the hotel door. Sharpay jumped in Troy's arms, and turned, staring at the closed door with horrific fear.

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**A/N: Cliffy. Want to know what happens next? Remember, ten reviews before I update. ;) **

**And thanks so much J2BK, gossipgirlfan101, didush, Xedra27, GimmeABeat, xHeSaidSheSaidx, and ria-bee for reviewing the last chapter. (There. An incentive for reviewing. Well, it always makes me happy anyways when people thank me for my review in the authors note. lol.)**

**xoxo.**


	12. Roses for Mrs Brooks

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update!**

**Thanks so much to my twelve reviewers of the last chapter. Haha. Well, I asked for ten, so here's the next chapter: **

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Their moment of peace was interrupted by a hard knock on the hotel door. Sharpay jumped in Troy's arms, and turned, staring at the closed door with horrific fear.

"It's okay." Troy said firmly, grasping Sharpay's shaking body by the shoulders and forcing her to look in his eyes, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Sharpay began to breathe in and out on the verge of hyperventilation, her terrified eyes darting about, a panic attack beginning to ensue.

"Hide!" she hissed.

Troy looked at her like she'd lost her mind, "Hide? You want me to hide? Sharpay, I'm not going to do that. Stop allowing yourself to make decisions based off of fear of this one man."

"He doesn't know about you though!" Sharpay argued, "If he _is _here and he _is _really mad, then I'd just be adding fuel to the fire."

"Better it combust now and be done with." Troy said bitterly.

"I don't know if I could handle a combustion." Sharpay muttered.

"From the looks of your bruises, you've handled plenty." he snapped.

He stopped their bickering when he saw the hurt and betrayed look she shot him. A surge of guilt swept over him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like such a jerk." Troy mumbled.

Again, five loud knocks sounded at the door.

"Excuse me!" someone called from outside, "I have a delivery sent up to this room!"

"Whose that?" Troy asked Sharpay.

She shook her head, "Not my husband. Unless he is the 'delivery'."

Troy squeezed Sharpay's shoulder comfortingly and then walked briskly to the door. He slid the chain latch into place before unlocking the main bolt and cracking open the door. A hotel employee stood at the door, alone.

"Is there a Mrs. Sharpay Brooks in the room with you?" the man asked.

Troy slowly looked back over his shoulder at Sharpay. It was still shocking to hear her referred to as a 'Mrs.'"

"Sharpay _Brooks?_" He asked.

Sharpay nodded at Troy. "My last name now." she said.

"Right." Troy said, shaking his head.

It was hard to process. Up until now she'd changed a lot, but she'd still been Sharpay Evans, the same girl he'd known since kindergarten. But suddenly he was facing the fact that she really wasn't Sharpay Evans anymore. She was Sharpay Brooks. Married, to a bastard, but nonetheless married, and a different woman because of it.

Troy closed the door temporarily and slid the chain out of the latch before opening it fully. A man dressed in the standard red hotel uniform stood in the hall, boquets of white and pink roses in his arms, while in his left hand gripping a light blue jewlery box, tied with the signature Tiffany's white bow, along with a sealed envelope.

Sharpay hesitantly crept into the doorway, peering over Troy's shoulder.

"Are you Mrs. Brooks?" he asked. As Sharpay nodded, a look of disapproval washed over his face, as if he understood what was going on. A married woman in a hotel room with another man. He raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips as he shoved his load into her own arms.

Sharpay looked down at the gifts, a small smile registering on her face. Troy frowned, jealously coursing through his veins in large angry pulses. How could she smile at a couple of boquets when they stood for remorse of angry pounding fists that had damaged her body only just the night before? Sharpay rushed the flowers and gift over to the dresser and set it down, before hurrying back to the doorway.

"Did someone hand deliver these?" she asked.

The man nodded, "A man walked in and asked us to send those up to a Mrs. Brooks in room 219. We quickly told him that there was no one registered under that name. He asked if there was anyone under the name Sharpay registered in the hotel but there wasn't. We aren't actually allowed to give information as to whose staying in our hotel, but the guy seemed so desperate to make sure you got his gifts and so upset, that we did make it known to him that it was a gentleman currently renting out this room."

Sharpay's eyes widened in alarm and she glanced at Troy, panic restoring in her face once again.

"It's okay." Troy said, taking her hand in his and squeezing it. It seemed to do little good for her state.

"He asked if I would run those gifts up here anyways and see if you were in this room." the employee continued, adressing Sharpay, "And he said if you were that I should tell you that he says he doesn't blame you, and he's not upset with you, and he'd really like it if you'd come home."

"Is he still downstairs in the lobby?" Troy asked.

The man took the oppurtunity to give Troy a disapproving glance before answering his question, "Not to my knowledge. I went directly up here as soon as I had my manager's approval on the man's request, but I think he was walking out anyways."

Sharpay nodded, "Thank you." she said dismissively.

"Mmm hmm." the man replied. He glanced back and forth between Sharpay and Troy, deciding if he should say something he had on his chest.

"I was engaged to a girl once." he said, impulsively, suprising the stressed out couple, "I was crazy in love with her, only to find out about a month before the wedding that she was running around on me with some other guy. It broke my heart."

Troy sighed loudly, making his irritability well known, "Thank you for your help, but we really have things we need to get back to."

"You might not think you're hurting him that bad by being here, but trust me, you are." the man said, this time only to Sharpay.

"You know nothing about her current situation." Troy said honestly to the guy.

"I know it's not my place," The employee replied, sounding like he was about to follow up with a _"but..."_.

"You're right. It isn't. Goodbye." Troy said, firmly closing the door on the man.

Sharpay rubbed Troy's back as he stood, still shaking in anger, glaring heatedly at the closed door. She stood on her tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Then she walked back over to the dresser, picking up the Tiffany's box. She tugged on the white ribbon, freeing the bow, and lifted the lid. She smiled as she pulled out the necklace it encased, fingering the heart shaped diamond pendant.

"Sharpay." Troy said uneasily.

She looked back at him and smiled softly. She dropped the pendant back in the box, letting the chain fall with its pull, and picked up the closed buisness envelope.

"I don't think you should read that." Troy said as she retrieved a folded letter from the envelope.

"Troy. He's my husband." she said, as if that should explain her current emotions, ones which remained unknown to Troy.

She walked back to the bed and sat down, sitting cross legged, and reminding Troy of the way children sat during read aloud time at school. This time though, Sharpay read silently, her eyes moving across the page slowly, as if the words were tender and needed to be handled in that manner. The suspense was killing Troy, and he was dieing to know what the letter said, but he felt he would be overstepping his boundaries if he were to ask.

"He's really really sorry." Sharpay finally said, her voice cracking, "And he said if I come home, he promises to get help immediately, so that..." Sharpay stopped talking as she tried to wipe the newly fallen tears from her face, but found it impossible to completely dry her cheeks as the tears began to fall more frequently and in greater numbers, and the quivers of a cry started to erupt low in her stomach and up through her throat.

Troy wasn't sure what the exact root of her tears was this time; there were so many possibilities. Whatever the cause was, this didn't stop him from quickly rushing to her and wrapping his arms tightly around her in an effort to get the tears to stop.

"What's wrong?" he asked, feeling stupid for hearing the words come out of his own mouth knowing the answers to his question were infinite.

"He really wants to get himself help, so that he won't ever hurt me again." she said, burrying her head in Troy's chest, "And he's so sorry, and says he really loves me. But I don't know..." A large shaking cry came out of her mouth interrupting her for a moment, "I don't know if he'll actually be able to stop hitting me, or if he even means it. And I loved him at one time, I know I did, but I don't know whether or not I still love him, and either way, I don't know whether or not I love you now too."

"None of that matters." Troy said firmly, "No matter what the answers are to any of those questions, you shouldn't go back to him."

"You can't say that!" Sharpay cried, exasperated, "He's my husband! I've spent my entire adult life with him, and we've been through a lot together. You don't understand what that's like! You have to be in a marriage to truly understand one."

"I'm not arguing that Sharpay." Troy closed his eyes. He was fighting her over the same issues time and time again and he didn't know how many more times it would take before he'd reached the end of his rope. He didn't want to feel iritated with her. It wasn't her fault and he cared a lot about her. Still, anybody human could become annoyed after a while with his situation.

"You can't go back to him though Shar!" Troy continued, "He could just be saying those things to lure you back home. Or maybe he means it. That doesn't mean he's actually ever going to find himself help. Or maybe he will get help, but you don't know how efficient that's going to be or how long it's going to take, and you can't sit around as his guinea pig waiting to see. You'll be putting yourself in danger by going back there."

"Troy, he sounds really honest though." Sharpay said, "I think he really wants to get better."

"Damn it Sharpay!" Troy pressed the heels of his hands into his temples, looking up at the ceiling in frusteration. "Why is it that there's an excuse for everything these days if you just say you need psychiatric help? Everyone has their demons, but at some point you have to step up and take responsibility for your actions. And there's no fucking disease that causes a man to lay into his wife!"

"Troy, if I can give my marriage a fighting chance I should." Sharpay said quietly.

"Well you won't." Troy said firmly, "Because I'm not letting you go. And that's that."

"What do you mean _you won't let me_?" Sharpay asked in disbelief. Suddenly, she was as angry as Troy.

"You may not realize this, but I am a grown woman and I'm capable of making adult decisions!" she informed him, her eyes narrowing in a familiar way he'd been used to seeing back in high school. If the pretenses weren't as heavy as they most definitely were, he might have smiled.

Instead he snapped back, "Oh, really? I've yet to see you demonstrate either of those things the entire time I've been here!"

"That's bullshit!" Sharpay yelled, standing up off of the bed in defiance.

"No it's not Sharpay! You act like a small child, and I feel like I have to keep you under my supervision twenty four seven!" he shouted back.

"No you don't." Sharpay responded, "Because I'm leaving." She stormed over to the counter, grabbing her bag and the presents from Charles.

"No you're not!" Troy cried, standing up in response and hurrying in her direction, "I told you, I won't let you go back to that monster."

Sharpay stood still, "What are you going to do to stop me?" she asked.

Troy looked down at his arms, realizing what she meant.

"Use your superior physical strength? You can't control me. You'd be acting just as bad as him." she pointed out.

"But to save you from him!" Troy protested, suddenly feeling helpless and unable to stop her.

"I don't need you to be my fucking savior!" Sharpay snapped back at him.

She stormed to the door and stomped out, slamming it behind her.

* * *

**A/N: Hey GimmeABeat, I was reading your "Twin Flames" chapter yesterday, and liked how you put the last cliffy line in italics before you started the new chapter, so I copied it. Hope you don't mind. **

**I feel so bad for Troy in this chapter. I feel horrible for Sharpay to, and I don't blame her for the way she acts, but still, if I had to pick a side in this particular Troypay fight, it'd be Troy's. **

**Haha, isn't it funny how we writers get upset by the things we make the characters do?**

**For those of you tired of Troy and Sharpay sitting around a hotel room conversating for the past three chapters, I promise you that the next chapter is when all the action finally starts. (But I'm not going to say anymore than that.)**

**Okay, I'll spare you any more of the incredibly long author's note I can never seem to stop myself from writing, and just remind you dear readers once again that I won't update again until I have at least ten reviews. **

**xoxo. **

**-GuiltyPleasure**


	13. The Monster Comes Out of the Closet

_"I don't need you to be my fucking savior!" Sharpay snapped back at him._

_She stormed to the door and stomped out, slamming it behind her._

Troy stared at the closed door, feeling his heart raging against his chest, waiting for his breathing to return to normal.

"Fucking bitch." he muttered to himself. Despite the heat rushing in his cheeks, he felt guilty immediately for speaking that way about Sharpay. He still thought she was wonderful, as much as he wished he could hate her now.

He turned around, away from the door that now symbolized Sharpay's walking out. He was nearly on the verge of tears in frustration. He couldn't understand what went on inside Sharpay's mind. At first, he had found that to be part of her charm, but now it only added to his pain and confusion. He wanted so badly to protect her and shield her from any harm, but at the same time he had to recognize some of Sharpay's points as truths. After one week he couldn't expect her to leave her old life behind in order to jump into his arms and _move in with him. _He realized how extreme that must have sounded when he suggested it.

What Sharpay didn't understand though, was that Troy did not want her to leave her husband for him, but rather for herself. Should she choose to forget Troy, he would have to accept that and move on, but he still cared too much about her at this point to let her run back into the arms of a monster, allowing herself to repeatedly be hurt by him. She deserved so much more than that, and he didn't have a clue as to how to convince her that was true.

Walking back into the room he now spotted several of her items on the ground next to the dresser. While scrambling to grab her gifts, she must not have noticed when they fell out of her bag or her arms. Troy knelt down to the ground, retrieving a pink lipstick case, an open compact mirror, a half chewed pack of gum, and that godforsaken necklace. Was she really won over that easily?

Troy stared at the diamond encrusted heart for a moment, and then in a loud grunt of anguish, he powerfully gripped two ends of the chain, pulling them in opposite directions, and snapping the necklace in half. Good. He'd probably just broke a thousand dollar necklace. Well, the chain at least. He glared at the pendant, where he knew the real value of the jewelry lay, and hurled it against the wall with another snarl.

Next was the compact mirror, decorated on the non reflective sides with black and white photos of the Eiffel Tower. He slammed it against the face of the mahogany dresser several times and then withdrew it, inspecting the damage he inflicted. The mirror was thoroughly cracked, with several shards missing, now laying on the carpet around him. Seven years of bad luck didn't seem that much worse than his current situation.

He snapped open the lipstick case next in his ridiculous rampage of destroying the things she had left behind. Even as he realized how pointless and irrational his actions were, he would neither cease nor be satisfied until he had gauged out every bit of the lipstick that lay inside the case.

White powder flew up onto his hand due with the amount of force he used to open the small case. Troy stared at the substance on his knuckles and dared to look into the case. No makeup was found, only more of the suspicious white powder.

Tentatively, Troy licked his fingertip and dipped it into the case, retrieving a minimal amount. He placed it on the tip of his tongue.

"Blech!" Troy's face twisted up like a drying raisin, writhing from the bitter taste. It definitely was not Sweet and Low.

In anger, Troy threw the open case across the hotel. He had come home for a normal family visit. It was just too perfect that fate would have him finally fall for the girl with a million major problems, who was not even fucking available. All of the logic he had left to use was clearly telling him it was time to hug his parents goodbye and go home. But he couldn't. Troy Bolton liked a challenge, and challenge, Sharpay Evans had in spades. He wasn't ready to give up now.

Standing up from her now trashed things, he picked up his cell phone from the night stand. Sweat rushed from the palms of his hands as he tried to grip the phone while dialing Chad's number. His long time friend picked up after the third ring.

"Hello?" Chad answered.

"Hey man. I kinda need to ask you for a favor." Troy started timidly.

There was a moments pause on the other end of the line that made Troy even more nervous to be asking for anything from Chad. He still felt extremely guilty for walking out on him and Taylor the night before, and hoped his friend wasn't holding on to any grudges over it.

"Sure. What do you need?" came Chad's ever loyal reply. Troy smiled in relief.

"Nothing major, but when I ask for it, you can't question my motives right now, okay?"

"Okay..." Chad tried to answer casually, but Troy could tell he had peaked his curiosity now.

"I need Sharpay's address." Troy said.

"Sharpay? Dude! She is _married. _Leave her alone!" Chad exclaimed, "Look, I don't know it anyway. I'd have to go through Taylor in order to get it, and I know she won't be willing. Sharpay's husband is her boss. She's not going to help you commit infidelity with his wife."

"Look, I'm not going to go over to her house and fuck her. I told you not to ask for reasons right now." Troy bit down on his knuckle in anticipation, hoping for his friend's cooperation.

"Her husband came back home last night. Taylor talked to him on the phone." Chad informed Troy.

"I know that. I still need to go over there." Troy replied steadily.

"You know that? Did you talk to Sharpay again?"

"She came over here really late last night-"

"Oh man!" Chad interrupted him, "Look. You know I'm fine with your decision to sleep with as many _single _women as possible. I fully support it. But you can't start sleeping around with married women Troy. I'm going to be a married man myself in a couple of months, and I'd kill anyone who tried to sleep with Taylor."

"Chad I'm not at liberty to discuss what Sharpay and I talked about last night, but I promise you, there _is _a moral reason behind me going over there today." Troy assured him.

"If you're going to ask me to risk my fiance's job, and have her kick my ass because I'm giving you this address, I think you should at least tell me what the hell is going on." Chad reasoned.

"You're not going to be risking Taylor's job." Troy said in a tone that let Chad know he thought he was being dramatic, "They won't know how I got their address."

"That doesn't matter! Taylor talked to Charles last night, and he knows we saw Sharpay. If Charles figures out what you and Sharpay have been doing, he'll realize Taylor saw you two together, and will fire her immediately to save face. He wouldn't want to risk embarrassment by having someone who works for him know that his wife cheated on him."

"Please." Troy said, his voice heavy with final hope.

Chad resounded with a heavy sigh, "Okay."

"Thank you!" Troy exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll steal Taylor's address book. It should be in there."

"One more thing." Troy blurted out. He held his breath.

Chad let out another sigh, "What?"

"You said her house is gated?"

"Yeah..."

"So, you've been there. How do I get in?" Troy asked.

"Well the gates are open during parties." Chad replied conspicuously. "Look, I think they use some sort of pass code normally. They have a bell or something you can ring, I guess."

"Sharpay wouldn't let me in." Troy reasoned.

"Then leave her alone dude!" Chad exclaimed.

"You don't understand Chad! I'm going to jump the fence if it's closed."

"Whatever. Good luck I guess."

"And, they don't have any, like, vicious guard dogs or anything do they?" Troy asked nervously.

"No. And there aren't any hungry alligators or fire breathing dragons keeping watch either. You're safe." Chad replied sarcastically.

"Very funny."

"I'll text you the address as soon as I have it, okay?"

"Alright. Thank you so much Chad." Troy said earnestly.

"Yeah, yeah." His friend ended the connection.

Troy scrolled through his contacts again. The next thing to do on his list was to call work and explain that the rest of his vacation time would be spent in Albuquerque the following week. Troy shook his head. He sure was going to extremes for Sharpay. He only hoped his efforts wouldn't later prove to have all been in vain.

* * *

Chad texted Troy fifteen minutes after they had ended their call. Troy had immediately left the hotel room and ran out to the parking lot, entering the address into his GPS.

Now, he was approaching her house, truly a mansion, as Chad had claimed. His heart pounded, and his mouth salivated at a rapid pace, his stomach feeling extremely nauseous. To his relief, the gate doors were currently standing open, giving him one less problem to worry about. He pulled into the driveway, driving up to the hill where the house itself rested. He could see Sharpay's SUV parked in the circular drive, directly in front of the porch steps. There was a large series of open car ports parked at an angle behind the mansion, where Troy spotted several other vehicles, but they didn't serve any indication as to whether or not the spoken of "Charles" was home.

Troy exited his car and approached the steps with extreme uneasiness. As he climbed them, he ceaselessly pushed away second thoughts. With one final sharp intake of breath, he rang the front doorbell, and waited.

Every second dragged on in an endless torture, until he finally heard the door being unlocked, and watched with fantastic horror as the door knob twisted open. He came face to face with a middle aged woman wearing a limp white apron around her waist, her hair twisted back into a tight bun. The maid, he assumed.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I'm here to see Sharpay Ev- Brooks." Troy stumbled, almost making the mistake of referring to her by her maiden name, "Is she home?"

The maid nodded, "She's with her husband, eating lunch on the veranda."

Troy's heart jumped, and suddenly he had no idea what he was doing here. Sharpay was with her husband, and he was certain neither of them would be happy to see Troy. What did he plan on accomplishing by being here? If she refused to leave her husband when alone with Troy, how could he expect to be more convincing when they were in the presence of the man behind Sharpay's many bruises?

Nevertheless, he followed the maid when she nodded at Troy to enter the home. He walked behind her through large spacey rooms, to wide sliding glass doors, through which he could see side profiles of the couple. They sat across from each other, plates set out in front of each of them. Neither of them appeared to be saying much, but still they conveyed a picture of casualness, as if one of them had not just been in a hotel room with another person a mere hour earlier.

"Come on." The maid gestured to Troy, sliding open the glass door.

Sharpay turned her head to look over her shoulder at the person entering through the doors. Charles as well looked up, and for a moment Troy was stunned at the sheer normality of his appearance. As stupid as he knew it was, Troy was still half expecting a man with a large scar running down his face, or some sort of visual mark to signify his sinfulness.

"A man's here to visit you ma'am." The woman said to Sharpay.

For a brief moment Troy marveled how odd it must feel to refer to a girl half your age as "ma'am". His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by Sharpay's icy voice.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. As cold as she tried to make her voice sound, she did not succeed in completely discarding her clearly shaken nerves..

"Sweetie, don't be rude." Charles instructed. His eyes twinkled, amusement playing on his face. Troy guessed that he probably knew more about why he was there than he would like to think.

"You know my wife." he continued, "Come sit down. Are you hungry?"

"No." Troy replied. He glanced down at the food the two were eating. While Charles' plate was nearly empty, Sharpay's looked barely touched, an entire piece of salmon still in tact.

"Sharpay, I had to come after you." Troy started.

"So you're the man whose been trying to steal Sharpay away the past couple of days." Charles chuckled like it was all a joke, and Troy knew he must have already known who he was the minute he stepped out onto the back deck.

"I haven't given up yet." Troy said cooly to the man.

"You'd be wise to do so now." Charles replied. This time, he sounded completely serious, and an unpleasant chill trickled down Troy's spine.

"You're not the first man she's ever toyed with like this. There have been plenty of others who've fallen in love with her, and showed up at my house just like you." Charles said calmly, "Believe me though, she never had any intentions on whatever sort of fling the two of you had going anywhere."

Troy glanced at Sharpay, questioning Charles' words to her with his eyes. In return, she lowered hers guiltily. Troy was shocked for a moment. She had told Troy that there had been a few other guys with whom she had been with since marrying her husband, but she had written them all off as one night stands. The knowledge that others had tried to steer Sharpay away from her husband before him made Troy feel hopeless and insignificant.

"Sharpay?" Troy asked softly, beggin to hear anything at all from her on the matter.

"Troy, I-"

"Honey!" Charles snapped. The usually affectionate name sounded far from the sort. "Understandably, I'd rather not have you talk to him."

Sharpay nodded and looked down at the ground.

"Don't tell her who she can talk to!" Troy cried, finally pulling from the contempt he held for her husband.

"You don't tell me what I tell her!" Charles snapped back, "She's my goddamned wife, and you'd be smart to keep that in mind!"

"She may be your wife but you don't deserve her!" Troy yelled.

"Troy!" Sharpay pleaded, "Please, go home."

"You see? She doesn't want you here." Charles stood up from his chair, and smiled once again at Troy, "I'll have Mary show you to the door."

Troy glanced down at Sharpay again, but she avoided his eyes, casting her own to her feet.

"No. I'm not going anywhere." Troy said firmly, "I know what you do to her you son of a bitch, and I'm not going to sit back and let it happen again!"

This time, Charles' temper flared in a much more obvious way. He threw his ferocious glare onto Sharpay, "You lying bitch! What did you tell him?"

Sharpay's eyes widened, and she shook her head in response.

"Answer me!" Charles roared. He reached down, grabbing the glass plate he had been dining on, and hurled it towards her with all his force.

Sharpay ducked down, planting her head in her lap, as the plate soared over her and crashed on the ground, shattering. She didn't relift her head, but instead remained folded over, her face out of view. Charles stormed towards where Troy stood and Sharpay sat. As Troy registered the anger on his face, he braced himself for the impact of a punch, ready to respond when necessary.

However, Charles payed no attention to Troy. Instead he snatched one of Sharpay's wrists, and pulled her head up out of her lap.

"Don't start acting like this now that one of your goddamn boyfriends is here." he commanded harshly, "What kind of bullshit have you been feeding him?"

"I didn't tell-" Sharpay didn't finish, because she burst into sudden tears instead.

Furious, Troy grabbed Charles' shoulders from behind and yanked him away from Sharpay. He spun him around to face him, and with a sudden flinch of his arm, landed a square punch across Charles' jaw. Charles' head rolled back, but he retaliated, and returned an equally sound punch to Troy's face.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are." Charles snapped, "Sleeping with my wife, and then having the nerve to show up at my house and assualt me."

"You don't know how to treat your wife!" Troy quipped. He landed another punch, this time into Charles' ribs.

As a full blown brawl began to ensue. Sharpay, who had composed herself, quietly stood up and stole towards the sliding doors, slipping inside, unnoticed by either of the men.

* * *

**A/N: What do you think? We finally got to meet Charles. I wanted to comment on his actions in this chapter, and note that typically, were he in front of other strangers, he most definitely would not be treating Sharpay the way he was in this chapter. However, considering that Troy was somebody who he knew had slept with his wife, and the fact that he realizes Sharpay has told Troy that Charles beats her, I thought it probably made the most sense for him to react the way he did. **

**We're starting to reach climax here! Please leave your reviews. They make my day.**

**xoxo.**


	14. Responding to Force

Troy felt like time was suddenly moving in slow motion, like he had transported himself into one of the countless action flicks he used to watch back in his college days. Only the shot hadn't zoomed in on him as he landed the final victorious punch across the villain's face, ending the fight once and for all. Instead, he had fallen to his knees, the wind knocked out of him, while he clutched his stomach. This was not a happy ending. Troy had taken the final victory punch, and he knew the fight was lost. He reached up to wipe at his face, the entire area covered in a wet sticky substance. He pulled his hand away and stared at the abhorrent blood that now covered it. Whether the source of the bleeding came from his mouth or his nose, he did not know. Both burned like they had been set on fire, he was struggling to regain his breath, and the pain in his stomach was almost unbearable.

He looked up at Charles. The man's formally sandy brown hair was now disheveled, and signs of bruises were already showing on his jaw. His upper lip had swelled, and was producing a small but steady trickle of blood. Still, he was the one left standing as he glared hatefully down at Troy, the man who had intruded on his home and wife.

"You should thank God that I don't press charges on you. I won't, if you leave right now." His eyes glimmered with a sinister triumph.

"I told you already." Troy spat back, "I'm not leaving Sharpay. You're lucky that she hasn't pressed any charges on you. She could, if she wasn't so terrified of you."

Charles glared back at Troy, as he struggled to rise to his feet. "You realize that I could legally kill you now, for intruding on my property."

"The maid let me in." Troy argued.

"Well now I'm letting you out. You have no idea what goes on between me and my wife. You have no right to show up here and attack me." He wiped at the blood on his mouth, eyeing Troy carefully, still not dumb enough to let down his guard.

"I just saw what goes on between you and your wife five minutes ago, when you hurled a dinner plate at her head!" Troy felt his heart ramming against his chest, as if it were begging to be freed in order to have its turn against Charles. He had never felt more angry in his entire life.

"That was an isolated incident!" Charles insisted, "That cheating bitch was running around on me again, and I was mad as hell. I knew she would duck. I didn't intend to hurt her."

"You're a liar." Troy shot back heatedly, "I saw what goes on between the two of you in the form of bruises, covered across her bare back. I saw the black eye you gave her, and I listened to her when she talked about you. I know everything that she did say, and everything that she didn't say too. I understand exactly what goes on between the two of you, and I'm not going to let it continue any longer."

"I never meant to hurt Sharpay!" Charles insisted, "I love her. You don't know her. You don't live with her. She's a lying bitch, and she's been that way her entire life. Whatever she's told you is total bullshit, believe me."

"I don't believe you." Troy replied, his voice full of contempt and hatred, "I'd have to be a complete idiot to do so. I do know Sharpay. Granted, the one I've gotten to know this week has a few more serious problems than the one I grew up with, but I still know her, more than you ever will."

"You grew up with her?" Charles did not seem to like this fact at all, and he glared towards the door.

Troy read his mind, knowing he wanted to go ask Sharpay if it were true or not.

"Yes." Troy replied evenly.

"She loves me." Sharpay's husband took the moment to inform Troy of this, searching for some sort of connection with her to throw back in his face.

"Yeah, well you don't show her the love she deserves." Troy shot back.

"You don't know what the hell I show my wife!" Charles roared.

Troy fought with himself, struggling to compose his temper, so that he could fully explain his intentions to Sharpay's furious husband.

"I'm going to take Sharpay out of this house, away from you." He explained calmly, "So that you can't hurt her anymore."

"You're not going to do anything more with my wife." He emphasized the word wife, biting down on it harshly.

"You beat your wife." Troy said steadily.

He was relieved to finally speak the words. All the cars were now laid down on the table as Charles' face paled, his eyes shooting venomous darts towards Troy.

"I love Sharpay more than anything." Charles insisted, "I would never intentionally harm her in any way."

"You have harmed Sharpay, in many ways. And I'm not going to let it happen any longer." Troy started to turn and enter the home again, no longer concerned with his previous fight with Charles. He finally saw him for what he was; nothing. An insignificant being who had managed to use his money and power to dictate a young girl's life, and used fear and shame tactics to keep her from running away. When reasoned, it became clear that he was nothing but a coward.

"She won't go with you."

Troy turned around to look at the man briefly, but turned around again without uttering a word, making it known how little he cared for what he had to say.

"Not the way you falter around her. I know women and I know my wife. Women respond to force. My wife only responds to force."

Troy remained frozen, staring at the desired door in front of him. Suddenly, a whim of fury rushed through him, more powerful than anything he had ever held before. With all of the _force _he could muster, he turned around unexpectedly, catching Charles by surprise, and leaving him too stunned to react. Troy punched him straight across the face, but this time with more strength than he had ever summoned before towards an act of violence, and he could feel the satisfactory sound of Charles' bones crunching under the weight of his fist. Charles' screamed out in agony as Troy quickly withdrew his hand as soon as it had made hard contact. Charles' nose was splattered to the side of his face, contorted in a way it never should be. Blood poured from it, as he fell back in pain, and there was no doubt in Troy's mind that he had broken the nose entirely.

"Evidently, you respond to force as well." Troy gritted out to the man beneath him.

With that, Troy turned and left the man on the ground. He locked the back door behind him, as soon as he was in the house, and his eyes soon landed on the maid. She stood, pressed against the wall in the living room, and she marveled at Troy silently as he walked towards her. Troy paid no heed to the woman, however, instead heading towards the staircase, suspecting Sharpay was hiding out in her bedroom, though that was only a hunch.

"Sharpay!" He tried, but he got no answer, as he had expected. He began to ascend the stairs anyways, but a voice behind him stopped him.

"That's not where she goes."

Troy turned back to look at the maid.

"A guest bedroom. Down that hall." The maid gestured towards the hallway adjacent to the stairwell, "All the way down. Second room to the right."

"Thank you." Troy replied sincerely.

The maid only nodded silently, and then turned around, a feather duster in hand, to attend to a mahogany table near her. Troy supposed she always tried to look busy. With a man with a temper like Charles ruling the house, he didn't blame her.

He walked the distance down the corridor, and found the second door to the right. He opened it gently. Sharpay sat on the bed, her knees drawn in towards her body. She jumped mightily when she heard the sound of the door opening, and when she realized that it was only Troy, the look on her face was unmistakable.

"Relieved it's only me, and not your husband here to lay into you again?"

Sharpay sighed heavily, and let her head fall into her knees.

"What happened?" She asked, her words muffled.

"We fought a lot. And we argued about you. I told him I was going to take you away from here... I broke his nose."

"Oh my god!" Sharpay cried. She looked up at Troy, teary eyed, "He's going to kill me!"

"No he's not." Troy said adamantly, "Because you're leaving with me. Right now."

"I can't." Sharpay gripped her knees and stared at the bedspread blankly.

"You can, and you are. Come on." Troy was tired of arguing with her.

"Troy, you can't show up here and expect me to just turn my life over for you!" Sharpay exclaimed.

"I don't want you to do it for me! You need to do it for you. Today." He pleaded with her with his eyes, praying to God she'd finally start listening to reasoning.

"Things really aren't as bad as you think." Sharpay persisted, "I'm used to my life. This is my home. I can't just leave it."

"Sharpay this is not a home! You live in fear all the time!"

"Not when-" Sharpay started to interrupt, but then stopped, realizing what she meant to say would only count against her.

"When he's not here?" Troy finished for her, "Sharpay, are you really happy with your life? This is misery! I found your lipstick case you know."

Sharpay's eyes widened in fright, and she shook her head, not wanting Troy to know yet another dark secret of hers.

"I guess that explains those mysterious errands." He shook his head, "It's unfathomable that you continue to fight yourself on just leaving. Something drives you to a point to do drugs. Have you ever evaluated what it was for you?"

"Oh, come on Troy! There really isn't much to 'evaluate' is there? I think we both know what drove me to it."

"But you're still willing to continue on like this?" Troy asked.

She lowered her eyes, not able to muster the courage to meet his gaze.

"This is not a home Sharpay." He repeated, "Right now you just don't understand what your life could be. I could show you. Trust me, you just need to take the first step and walk out the door for good today. I promise it won't be as hard as you think it will. You can say goodbye to Charles, and then let the law take it from there. You can file for divorce and issue a restraining order. You wouldn't have to be afraid any longer."

"I- I can't Troy. I just can't." Sharpay bit her lip, feeling new tears spring to her eyes, "I'm sorry."

"Goddamn it!" Troy roared.

Sharpay jumped, and then shrunk back on the bed, away from him.

"I've seen you cry more times in a single week than I've ever seen anyone else cry in an entire lifetime! I watch you shrink back in terror every time someone raises their voice, and then I see you make countless excuses on why you should keep on living like this, and none of them make any sense." Troy approached her, a determined look set on his face, "I'm done listening to you now though."

"Hey! What are you doing?" Sharpay looked alarmed as Troy gathered her into his arms, lifting her up off the bed, cradling her.

"I'm carrying you out of the house." Troy answered.

Sharpay looked to shocked to fight, throwing her head around to gather in her new surroundings as she was transported against her will out of the guest room, and down the hallway.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to pack a bag. But since you're being so stubborn about this, I guess you're going to have to leave with the clothes on your back."

"What?" Sharpay still remained dumbfounded, "Leave? You can't do this."

As they approached the living room, Charles sat on a sofa, staring the two down. Sharpay screamed in alarm when she saw his disfigured nose. The maid was calmly talking on the phone, calling an ambulance for him.

"You're really going to try to walk out of here with my wife?" Charles asked. Whether his tone was that of disbelief, or challenge, was undecipherable to Troy.

"Not try. I am walking out of your house with your wife. Right now in fact." Troy turned, heading towards the front door without obstacle.

"Sharpay!" Her husband shouted behind them. He stood up, and swiftly strode up to where Troy stood.

"You're really going to walk out of here with this guy?" He asked in a wounded voice.

Sharpay said nothing, but looked up at Troy, her kidnapper, waiting for him to respond. He did not. Instead, he continued towards his destination of exiting the house.

"You're not going to say anything?" Charles ran behind them, and grabbed Troy's shoulders firmly.

"You cheating bitch." He spat at her, "Answer me when I talk to you."

"I'm sorry." Sharpay's voice came out barely above a whisper.

"I've spent way to much of my time today, listening to what you have to say." Troy informed Charles, "So now, I'm going to walk out of that door, with Sharpay, and if you try to give either of us trouble, I'll be damn sure to break something else of yours too."

Troy carried Sharpay towards the door and opened it, relief coursing through his veins. 'Freedom' was the first word that came to his head. He had only spent half an hour in Charles and Sharpay's home, and yet it had felt like a long prison sentence.

"She'll come back to me." Charles said decisively, "Even if you walk out right now. I know Sharpay."

"Not this time." Troy replied.

"I'll see you tomorrow _baby._"

Again Charles' ability to make affectionate nicknames sound like the cruelest words he could find sent shivers down Troy's spine. Charles sent Sharpay a meaningful look, and then shut the door. Troy tried not to let Charles' confidence in himself and his power over Sharpay bother him.

"You just carried me out of my own home." Sharpay marveled.

"Yep." Troy carried her to his car and unloaded her into the passenger seat.

"And now, I'm taking you home." He shifted the car into drive, riding through the circular drive, and down the long hill to the exit gates.

"You mean your home?" Sharpay sat stiffly in her seat, not wanting to allow herself to process what had just happened. She knew that Charles was correct in her returning to him, no matter Troy's attempts, and she hated to think what he'd do to her when she got back.

"No." Troy replied, giving no further explanation.

"He's right." Sharpay said after a brief moment.

"Hm?" Troy grunted, highly irritated already.

"Charles knows I'll go back to him, and you do too."

"Not this time." Troy said simply. Again, no further insight into his thoughts was offered.

After a few more moments of uncomfortable silence Sharpay worked up the nerve to ask, "Well could you at least tell me where you're taking me?"

"You'll see." Troy answered, and they continued to drive in silence.

* * *

**A/N: I think this is my second to last chapter. :) I know you probably think that that means that I'm going to just leave the story hanging or something, but I have a plan, and I won't, I promise. **

**My review count for this story has only gotten lower, :(, but I really appreciate J2BK, gossipgirlfan101, ria-bee, GimmeABeat, and didush for reviewing the last update. The reviews were so few, I really felt like I should thank those that did take the time to leave their thoughts. Thanks. It means a lot. **

**xoxo.**


	15. An Ending and a Beginning

"Troy where are we going?" Sharpay asked for the umpteenth time, releasing another huff of anxiety, her nails digging into her palms, trying to maintain a point of focus for her high tension.

"Don't ask me again." He replied. He glanced over at her anyway, and unintentionally felt sympathy breaking him down.

"I swear to God, I'll open this car door right now and roll out." She threatened. Truthfully though, she was somewhat happy to be presented with the small mystery. It occupied her thoughts some place else, away from Charles and her nerves.

"Right. I'm sure you'd have the guts to do that." Troy didn't mean for his words to sound as mean as they did, and instantly felt remorseful. Sharpay's eyes widened and her mouth drew closed in a pout, while she waited for Troy to correct himself.

Instead of doing so, however, he decided to give in and let his hostage know her destination.

"I thought about everything you said," Troy started, "About how I can't expect you to uproot your life for me after a week, or ask you to move all the way out to California just so I can 'protect' you. And I realized you were right."

Sharpay looked at him with surprise, but nodded in uncertainty. Were he to leave her on her own however, she knew without a doubt she'd have no choice but to run back to Charles.

Troy seemed to understand what she was thinking, because he quickly added, "Don't worry. I made some calls on the way over to your house and I got in touch with your brother."

"Ryan?" Sharpay asked with astonishment, "I haven't talked to my brother in over a year."

"I know. He told me." Troy glanced over in a mixture of disapproval and pity, "Did Charles denounce him?"

"No. Ryan 'denounced' Charles. I never told him about our fights or anything, but he got the vibe. Call it twin telepathy I guess. And after a while, he began to notice the bruises." Sharpay bit down on a now dry lip, and grew silent. She seemed to be in deep thought for a moment, or rather, recollection, and then continued, "At first he wasn't sure about his suspicions, but after a while, he lost all doubt, and confronted me. Ryan and I fought for a long time after that. He would continue to address my bruises each time he saw me, and I would continue to deny that anything out of the ordinary was taking place. We'd both argue over my choices, and what was best for me. I always felt like he was so disappointed in me. After a while, I just couldn't face him anymore. I ignored all of his calls, and my parents, since they had started to do the same. I didn't show for our parents thirtieth wedding anniversary, and I think that hurt them. I kept ignoring calls from them, and after a while, they stopped calling."

Sharpay swallowed and for a moment gazed out the car window in sorrow, "The Christmas before last, was the first time I didn't have any of my family around. Charles said he thought it was better this way. He said we wouldn't have to worry about 'going through the motions' and could just celebrate together. Then he called me on Christmas Eve from Vermont, and said he couldn't make it home, because he had to stay a few extra days to take care of some 'urgent buisness'. I ate an entire pumpkin pie, and then threw it up, and after that I spent the rest of the night breaking every china dish we owned. I thought Charles would be furious when he got home, but surprisingly he wasn't. He told me it was okay, and had our maid clean everything up. He felt bad I guess." Sharpay shrugged and then fell silent, seemingly forgetting that Troy was about to tell her where they were driving.

"What about last Christmas?" Troy asked softly, curiosity getting to him.

Sharpay shivered, "Charles and I got in the worst fight we've ever been in, the day before Christmas Eve. I spent that Christmas in the hospital. On the plus side, Charles did stay with me the entire time, so I wasn't alone. You could tell he felt horrible."

"Has he ever sent you to the hospital before?" Troy asked.

Sharpay shook her head, "That was the only time. He broke my arm in four different places, and they had to perform surgery on it. I had to stay an extra night to make sure there weren't any complications."

Troy felt like he was going to be sick, and tried to focus on keeping his hands firmly gripped to the wheel, and his eyes on the road in front of him.

After several minutes of silence, he finally initiated conversation again, "Anyway, I told Ryan everything, and he called your mother."

He took in a deep breath before finally revealing his master plan. "I'm taking you home, to your parents house."

Sharpay whipped her head around and for a minute was unable to speak at all out of shock. Of all things imaginable, she hadn't thought Troy would literally be taking her "home", to her family.

"My parents?" She asked meekly, "They don't want to see me, trust me Troy."

"Yes they do." Troy assured her, "You're their daughter, and they love you. Ryan called me again after afterwards. They're expecting you today, and they're going to get you help. The best thing for you right now is to be with family."

"So, what about us?" Sharpay asked for a minute.

Troy sighed, "I have to go home and get back to my normal life and my job. Right now I don't think you need to worry about another man in your life."

"Oh." Sharpay replied softly, "I thought you were staying in Albuquerque one more week?"

"I am." Troy answered, "And if anything goes wrong, I want you to get in touch with me. But in the mean time, I think the more mature thing for me to do, is to let you resolve your issues on your own, without me being there to complicate things."

Again Sharpay resounded with an unmistakeably disappointed, "Oh."

"But, I want you to know that I've dated a lot of girls, and no one's ever made you feel the way you have Sharpay, even after one week." Troy glanced away from the road briefly, to instead look longingly at her, "And, if you get to a point where you decide you might have time for a boyfriend, you should find me."

"Okay." She muttered, letting out a shaky breath. He tried to ignore the shattered look on her face, reminding himself that he was doing what he thought was best, regardless of the feelings he held for her.

"And," Troy spoke again, and Sharpay jumped, startled, "If something happens with Charles, or you ever need anything at all, call me. I'll fly out to Albuquerque stat. I promise."

Sharpay's lips formed a half smile, "Thanks Troy. You've done a lot more than you should, and regardless of how things work out, I really appreciate it." She grew silent for a moment and looked thoughtful, "You know I don't know if you noticed, but I had a huge crush on you back in high school."

Troy smirked softly, "I noticed."

"I always had fantasies of you carrying me off into the sunset on a white horse. Even if this isn't the same, you're still my prince charming." She reached a hand across to one of his, and rested it on top gently.

"I wish I could have been there Sharpay. I should have whisked you a way a week before you met him." Troy remarked bitterly, "I wish I could have stopped all this from happening to you, and always kept you safe. If I had known..."

"It's okay Troy." Sharpay leaned across the seat to kiss his cheek, and then rested her forehead against the side of his face, "Thank you."

* * *

"This is it right?" Troy stopped in front of the grand white house of Sharpay's youth.

"How'd you know?" Sharpay looked up at it, trying not to see it as menacing. After all, it offered more solace to her than an abusive husband.

"I asked Ryan for directions, but I remembered for the most part. You threw a few killer parties here back in high school." He unbuckled his seat belt and reached for the door handle, "I'll walk you inside."

"Thanks." Sharpay mumbled.

She fumbled with the seat belt distractedly, and by the time she was successful in removing it, Troy had reached her side of the car, and opened the door for her.

"I'm not sure about this Troy." She said, as he pulled her to her feet.

"They're your parents Sharpay. They love you more than anyone else in the world. And in a way that Charles can't." He added meaningfully.

Sharpay nodded, but squeezed his hand tightly for comfort as they made the walk up the driveway. Sharpay wondered why he had chose to park on the road, but supposed he might have understood she'd need this time.

When they reached the front porch, her knees were shaking as Troy rang the doorbell.

Troy marveled at the sight, wondering how a person could train themselves to act totally immune to their husbands violence, and yet scare like a frightened puppy when faced with their own parents. But then again, Troy had never thouroughly researched domestic abuse, and did not know what sort of reactions to expect from victims in any given situation.

The door pulled open, and Troy was greeted to the sight of Sharpay's mother. She had aged since he had last seen her, on a couple of rare occasions years ago, but her face still held a pretty countenance, and though she did not smile, given the circumstances, she gazed warmly at both of them.

Sharpay fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment, but in a quick lapse, her mother had swept out on to the porch, and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"Oh, Sharpay. You should have come home to Mommy years ago." She muttered.

Troy now felt awkward, and invasive, watching the emotional reuinion. He knew it was about time to leave Sharpay, and pray the best for her, but he still remained standing, gazing at her wantingly, at least needing to be able to hold her one last time.

Sharpay pulled away from her mother, teary eyed, and turned to Troy. She walked over to him, and pressed herself into his torso, wrapping her arms around his neck. Without thought, Troy returned the embrace, clutching her close to him, knowing it was the last time.

"Remember what I said. If you ever need anything, I'll be there." Troy reminded her. Sharpay nodded and briefly kissed his lips.

If her mother thought anything of this, she said nothing. She rested a hand on Troy's shoulders and sincerely said, "Thank you." It was a small statement, but it was enough, and Troy nodded in return.

Thinking of nothing more to say, and knowing the time had come for him to go, raspily he said to both women, "Goodbye."

Both softly returned the farewell, and Troy turned, walking back down the porch steps. On the walk down the driveway he turned around to see Sharpay's mother with an arm wrapped around her, escorting her into the house. He said a silent prayer for Sharpay, asking that she'd finally be safe and happy, and then he climbed into his car and drove away.

* * *

Troy smiled hearing the hum of the fax machine. It was a Friday afternoon, and he'd faxed his last report of the day. Feeling glad to have completed the week's final accomplishment, he strolled back to his desk and sat down, to finish addressing any important emails before going home and beginning the weekend. The back wall of his twelfth floor office was windowed, and he caught his gaze lingering on the orange glow the late afternoon sun cast on San Francisco. An impossibly strange mix of both peaceful tranquility and sickening anxiety overcame him. He found relief and consolation in the fact that he had finished his work for the week, and could now go home and relax. But yet he was disheartened to know that there would be no one to share his leisure time with, no one to fill his life with laughter and affection.

In the two months since he had left Sharpay at her mother's house, and returned home, he had fallen back into his old habits. He focused all his time at work, so that he could once again distract himself from the everyday enough to deny the obtrusive truth: he lived a hollow life, void of any real human relationships.

The people in his life once again drifted through, never leaving any significant mark behind. One time dates or occasionally an even more shallow one night stand, friends he met up at bars with here and there, before they eventually lost touch. None of these people meant anything to him other than a way to pass the time, and he found himself wishing more and more that he could meet the right girl already, and settle down like so many of his old friends. In the back of his mind, however, there was a sinking feeling that told him he already had found the right one, but lost her to circumstance.

"Troy?"

Troy was jolted by his receptionist Helene paging him.

Holding down the speak button on his work phone he replied, "Yes?"

"There's someone here to speak to you-"

"Helene, you'll have to push them back until Monday." Troy quickly interrupted her, "I have to leave now for a prior engagement."

"It's your sister." the receptionist persisted, "She says it's urgent."

"I don't have a-" Troy stopped himself, curiosity peaked, "Okay," He relented, "Send her in."

He felt a slight dwindle of amusement in the anticipation of who might possibly come to his work to pose as his non-existent sister, and what cause they might have for doing so.

He was quickly shifting through the remains of his unread email, fiercely hoping not to run across anything that couldn't wait until Monday, when the door to his office opened, and a cool gust from the hallway burst in.

Troy looked up and felt his entire body lurch in shock of who now stood before him, as if she had just manifested herself there after hearing his lonely thoughts. For a moment he could only stare at her, dazzled by her presence, her beauty, and the feelings she immediately provoked within him.

"Hey sis." He joked lightly.

"Hi." She smiled shyly and glanced around his office, "You told me to come find you."

Troy stood and walked nearer to the blonde angel, compelled to do so as if in a hypnotic trance.

"How have you been?" He asked softly.

"I spent a month in a rehabilitation center for battered women." She shared, "And... I got divorced. Incidentaly, it turns out that domestic violence did in fact breech our prenup, and I am now a very wealthy woman on my own accord."

Troy nodded, "That's good, because the cost of living in California's pretty high."

"Yeah, but I know a guy that lives here, so I think I might crash at his place for a couple of days." She smirked coyily.

Troy smiled back, "I don't think that's such a good idea. If he says yes, he's probably just trying to get in your pants."

She giggled, and then held out her hand for him, "I think we should start over new."

"Okay." He replied, taking the offered handshake.

"Hi." She greeted him, "My name's Sharpay _Evans. _Maybe we could go out-"

He suddenly cut her charade short, taking her into his arms in an instance, and engulfing her with a searing kiss. There was a powerful connection when their lips meshed, one that was solely unique and their own, and fueled them to pull the other even tighter against themselves, a nearly impossible task.

When they finally withdrew for air, they rested their foreheads together, and smiled at one another, their eyes locking and staying that way. They remained together like that for quite some time, rejoicing in sweet reunion, one that would never have to be broken again.

* * *

**A/N: There you have it. Hopefully you guys thought it ended okay. I have gotten barely any reviews for my last chapter of Hidden Love, so I'm not really sure what to expect for this, but if anybodys still reading, please leave me some much needed reviews, and I'll be extremely grateful.**

**Thanks to everyone who ever read and reviewed, and especially to those of you who faithfully reviewed my updates continuously. Your thoughts were always something to look forward to in my inbox. **

**Again, one last chance to review this story, so please don't let me down. :)**

**xoxo.**


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